LITITZ, Pennsylvania — Donald Trump said Sunday that he wouldn’t “mind” if someone had to “shoot through the fake news” to get to him, a further escalation of his violent rhetoric.

The former president, speaking at a rally here about the efforts the Secret Service has taken to protect him after two apparent assassination attempts against him, began pointing out the panes of ballistic glass surrounding him at the outdoor venue.

“All we really have over here is the fake news, right? And to get me somebody would have to shoot through the fake news,” Trump said. “And I don’t mind that so much.”

The comment, which drew laughter from the crowd, was one of several broadsides Trump launched against the press in his rally here. He has long used the media as a foil in his appeals to his base.

In a statement, campaign spokesperson Steven Cheung denied that Trump was wishing harm upon the media.”

President Trump was brilliantly talking about the two assassination attempts on his own life, including one that came within 1/4 of an inch from killing him, something that the Media constantly talks and jokes about,” Cheung said. “The President’s statement about protective glass placement has nothing to do with the Media being harmed, or anything else.”

Cheung claimed that the former president was really implying the media was in danger and “should have had a glass protective shield, also.”

But his remarks Sunday came as Trump has been escalating both his attacks on the press and his use of violent rhetoric in the closing days of his third presidential campaign. The former president last week suggested Republican former Rep. Liz Cheney, who is supporting his rival, Vice President Kamala Harris, should “face nine barrels shooting at her” in an apparent attack on her hawkish views.