John Hinckley Jr. Reflects on 1981 Assassination Attempt

In a preview clip from "The Mark Joseph Show," Hinckley expressed a desire for Foster to have a good life, noting that he no longer follows her film career. The 1981 shooting, which left Reagan with a punctured lung and injured three others, was the culmination of months of stalking. Hinckley had moved to Connecticut to be near the Yale campus where Foster was enrolled, repeatedly leaving letters and poems at her door, though the 18-year-old actress consistently rejected his advances.

During the interview, Hinckley admitted he was "delusional" at the time, harboring a fantasy that the assassination would force a permanent union between him and Foster. He revealed that he had even considered targeting the actress herself before fate led him toward the president. Following his 1982 acquittal by reason of insanity, Hinckley spent decades in psychiatric care before his release and the eventual lifting of all legal restrictions in 2022. Despite his history of violent obsession, he maintains that his primary motive was a desperate, misguided attempt to win her affection.