I wouldn’t have made that statement on the campaign trail for all sorts of reasons (it’s easy to ridicule, it might give the enemy ideas etc.).
But having said that he may well be right. If I were the terrorists instead of trying to hit the expected targets I’d try to go after someplace rural and unexpected. The goal of terrorism is to terrorize (duh!).
You hit a place like that and no one will feel like they’re safe.
Having been responsible for homeland security related issues for many years, he is not wrong in his assessment. It took years for me to get my officers trained in rapid response (active shooter) because that stuff doesn’t happen here.
Understand that rural areas are very vulnerable. The area he is talking about is experiencing rapid growth so ‘out of towners’ will not stand out. If I wanted to cause fear I would hit rural America. Imagine an area where one or two officers are on duty PER COUNTY. One call ties up all the resources.
Anything any of our candidates say will be ridiculed. He is not wrong, but timing may not be right.