Former US President Donald Trump believes he is miraculously alive following the attack at a rally on Saturday, adding that he “should be dead” in his first interview since the attack with the New York Post.
“The doctor at the hospital said he had never seen anything like it, he called it a miracle,” the former president explained, with part of his head still bandaged from the wounds he received following the attack, in exclusive statements to the New York newspaper.
A “grateful and at times defiant” Donald Trump, according to the paper, said he was “supposed to be dead” as he recalled being shot by his attacker at a Republican campaign rally.
The former president shared the “surreal experience” that nearly ended his life during an interview aboard his private plane on the way to Milwaukee, where the Republican National Convention that will confirm him as the presidential candidate begins on Monday.
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“He’s not supposed to be here, he’s supposed to be dead,” Trump told the Post reporter.
Trump was holding a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, on Saturday when he was hit by a bullet in the right ear. One person was killed, two were injured and the attacker, who fired from outside the venue, was shot dead by police.
The FBI confirmed that the perpetrator of the attack, Thomas Crooks, 20, acted alone and shot the former president from a rooftop using an AR-15 rifle that had been legally purchased by his father.
Crooks, who was shot dead by Secret Service agents just seconds following opening fire on Trump, was a registered Republican voter.
During the interview, the Republican candidate added that as Secret Service agents led him away from the scene where he was attacked, he still wanted to continue speaking to his supporters, but the agents told him it was not safe and that they had to take him to a hospital.
Thank you to the agents
He said he was “amazed” at how officers came flying in like linebackers when the shooting began and he unbuttoned his long-sleeved white shirt to reveal a large bruise on his right forearm.
The Post notes that the former president also cleared up a mystery regarding his shoes. In video of the shooting and the followingmath, as officers tried to rush him off the stage for safety, he can be heard saying, “Hold on, I want my shoes.”
As he explained in the interview, “the officers hit me so hard that my shoes fell off, and they were squeezing me,” he said, smiling.
He praised Secret Service personnel for their heroic actions and lauded them for shooting down the shooter, who was perched on a rooftop regarding 150 yards from the stage where Trump was speaking.
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“They took him out with a shot right between the eyes,” the former president said, pointing to the bridge of his nose at the interviewer. “They did a fantastic job,” he reiterated. “It’s surreal for all of us.”
Trump also referred to the incredible photo of him raising his fist and saying “Fight” three times as officers tried to remove him from the stage and put him in an armored SUV.
“A lot of people say it’s the most iconic photo they’ve ever seen,” Trump said. “They’re right and I didn’t die. Normally you have to die to have an iconic photo.”
He added: “I just wanted to keep talking, but I just got shot.”
Pennsylvania / EFE
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2024-07-16 12:55:40
