Donald Trump Reflects on Miraculous Escape During Assassination Attempt in Pennsylvania Speech

Former President Donald Trump narrowly escaped an assassination attempt during his speech in Pennsylvania, reflecting on the miraculous turn of events that saved his life. Trump sustained a minor ear injury but was otherwise unharmed.

Donald Trump Reflects on Fractional Second That Saved His Life During Assassination Attempt in Pennsylvania

The former President of the United States, Donald Trump, is consumed by the memory of the fractional second in which he moved his head before a gunman, who was determined to assassinate him, fired the gun during his speech in Pennsylvania on Saturday evening. Trump was seated at the podium and began to refer to a large screen, positioned to his right, displaying immigration statistics. During the millisecond in which Trump's head was at the precise angle for the bullet to graze his ear but not penetrate his skull, the bullet whizzed by. This happened as he adjusted his view of the screen. Trump sustained a bleeding ear wound but no other injuries. It appeared to be a miracle.

“The most incredible thing was that I happened to not only turn but to turn at the exact right time and in just the right amount,” Trump stated during a conversation onboard his 757 on July 14 as he departed for Milwaukee to commence the Republican National Convention. “If I only half-turn, it hits the back of the brain. The other way goes right through [the skull]. And because the sign was high, I’m looking up. The chances of my making a perfect turn are probably one-tenth of one percent, so I’m not supposed to be here.”

“I had to be at the exact right angle,” Trump continued. “Because the thing was an eighth of an inch away. That I would turn exactly at that second, where he [the gunman] wouldn’t stop the shot is pretty amazing. Pretty amazing. I’m really not supposed to be here.”

Trump, dressed in a dark suit without a tie and a gauze bandage affixed to his ear, expressed admiration for the Secret Service agents who protected him while he was onstage. At one point, he raised his right sleeve to reveal a deep red and black discoloration. “That’s just from a guy grabbing me,” Trump said. “You know how strong you have to be to do that?” He insisted on getting up and walking off the stage under his power.“I said, I’ve got to walk out, I have to,” Trump continued. “I did not want to be carried out. I’ve seen people being carried out, and it’s not good. And I had no problem with walking.”

Upon viewing the video, it appeared that Trump, surrounded by agents protecting him from further threats, genuinely desired to return to the microphone to continue speaking. He did. "I desired to continue speaking; however, I was recently shot," Trump said with a little laugh. “It’s a very surreal experience, and you never know what you’re going to do until a thing like that happens.”

Trump Aims for Unity After Assassination Attempt, Alters Campaign Strategy Ahead of Convention

According to the Washington Examiner, it was obvious that Trump was still processing what had happened. Who wouldn’t be? It will stay with him for the rest of his life. He is now grappling with the feeling that something huge has changed in his life and the presidential race. When asked if this changes his campaign, he immediately answered, “Yes.”

Trump explained that before Saturday night (July 13), he had finished the speech he planned to give later this week at the Republican convention. “I basically had a speech that was an unbelievable rip-roarer,” he said. “It was brutal — really good, really tough. [Last night] I threw it out. I think it would be very bad if I got up and started going wild about how horrible everybody is, and how corrupt and crooked, even if it’s true. Had this not happened, we had a speech that was pretty well set that was extremely tough. Now, we have a speech that is more unifying.”

Trump clarified that a new speech has not been entirely written yet, but parts of it have already been drafted, starting in the hours after the assassination attempt. The idea is to reframe the intense conflicts Trump has engaged in during his years in national politics. “I’ve been fighting a group of people that I considered very bad people for a long time, and they’ve been fighting me, and we’ve put up a very good fight,” Trump said. “We had a very tough speech, and I threw it out last night, I said I can’t say these things after what I’ve been through.”

Some people in politics and business have suggested to Trump that he could use the assassination attempt as a starting point to try to be a more unifying candidate. Given the history of the last eight years, it’s an idea that seems wildly improbable. But an assassination attempt is a huge thing. There hasn’t been one on a president in more than 40 years, and there hasn’t been one on a leading presidential candidate in longer. It is hard to predict what effect it will have. But Trump suspects the chances of fundamental political change coming from the Pennsylvania attack are probably not great.

“I’d love to achieve unity if you could achieve unity, if that’s possible,” Trump said. “There are many good people on the other side…But there are also people who are very divided. Some people actually want open borders and some people don’t want open borders. The question is can those two sides get together? Can sides where you have people who want to see men play in women’s sports, and you have a side that doesn’t understand even the concept of allowing that to happen [get together]?”

Trump knows it’s a long shot. “It has an impact,” he said of the assassination attempt. “Now, maybe the impact will wear off if the other side gets nasty.” It seems pretty likely that that will happen, and the fighting will resume, even though both Trump and President Joe Biden are discussing unity.

But even if it does not bring lasting political change, a brush with death has had a noticeable effect on Donald Trump. He survived “by luck or by God,” he said. Once the trigger was pulled, the chances of Trump avoiding a fatal injury seemed infinitesimally small. “I mean, I’m supposed to be dead, I’m not supposed to be here,” Trump said yet again. “It did have a lot of impact.”