Donald Trump recalls what might have saved his life during assassination attempt
US presidential candidate Donald Trump downplayed the injury he sustained during his assassination attempt and recalled what may have saved his life from it.
In a video recording of a private phone call between Trump and Robert F. Kennedy Jr., which the latter's son Bobby Kennedy III shared on social media and later deleted, the former can be heard sharing his conversation with President Joe Biden after the shooting.
"It was very nice actually," Trump told Kennedy. "[Biden] called me, and he said, 'How did you choose to move to the right?'" (Trump tilted his head to the right before the shot was fired, leaving him only with minor injuries in his ear.)
"I said, 'I was just showing a chart,' "Trump continued. "I didn't have to tell him the chart was on all the people pouring into our country."
When asked about the injury he got from the July 13 incident, Trump compared it to the sensation of being stung by the "world's largest mosquito."
"Felt like the world's largest mosquito," he said, adding that he was shocked at the assailant's use of an AR-15, stating, "Those are big guns."
Gunfire broke out during Trump's campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania last July 13. Trump was shot in the ear during his speech and blood quickly became visible on his face.
Secret Service agents stormed the podium, forming a protective ring around the Republican candidate and ushering him off the stage. Trump raised his fist amid the chaos before he was escorted away from the crowd.
The gunman—identified as 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks, a registered member of the Republican Party—was fatally shot by Secret Service agents after the incident. The motive for the shooting has not been established.
President Joe Biden, for his part, stressed in a statement that there is "no place for this kind of violence in America."
"I'm grateful to hear that he's safe and doing well," Biden said, adding: "I'm praying for him and his family and for all those who were at the rally."
