1 month ago
Last Updated: July 27, 2024, 07:28 IST
Washington D.C., United States of America (USA)
Donald Trump takes the stage to speak on Day 4 of the Republican Convention (RNC), at the Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, U.S., July 18, 2024. REUTERS
Trump's right ear was covered in blood on July 13 after he was injured during a campaign rally in Pennsylvania
Donald Trump was hit by an assassin’s bullet or a fragment of one, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) confirmed on Friday, putting to rest questions about the nature of the former US president’s wounds from a campaign rally earlier this month.
“What struck former President Trump in the ear was a bullet, whether whole or fragmented into smaller pieces, fired from the deceased subject’s rifle,” the FBI said in a statement. Republican candidate’s right ear was covered in blood on July 13 after he was injured during a campaign rally in Pennsylvania.
The FBI deemed the assault an assassination bit and later FBI chief Christopher Wray told US lawmakers on Wednesday that there was some doubt as to “whether or not it’s a bullet or shrapnel” that hit his ear. After the new statement from the FBI the Republican posted on his Truth Social platform: “I assume that’s the best apology that we’ll get from Director Wray, but it is fully accepted!”
‘No shrapnel or glass flying’
In a subsequent post, Trump said, “Perhaps FBI Director Christopher Wray will notice there is no shrapnel or glass flying through the ear, only a bloodstained bullet. It’s all so damaging to the Great People that work in the FBI. As The New York Times reported, other bullets came very close.”
He added, “Nobody ever called, even out of curiosity, from the Federal Bureau of Insurrection.” Earlier Friday, he posted a letter from his former White House doctor saying the wound was almost certainly due to a bullet. “There is absolutely no evidence that it was anything other than a bullet,” wrote Ronny Jackson, now a Republican congressman from Texas, on Truth Social.
Two rally attendees were seriously wounded in the attack, and a 50-year-old Pennsylvania firefighter was shot dead, according to officials. The gunman was killed by a US Secret Service sniper. Since the shooting, Trump has made the attack a key part of his campaign pitch, telling a crowd in Michigan that he “took a bullet for democracy.”
At the Republican Convention where he was anointed the party’s nominee for president, Trump said he had “God on my side” as he described the attack. And at Trump rallies, many of the former president’s supporters have taken to wearing bandages on their right ears, a reference to the attack.
On Thursday, Trump had also denied Wray’s comments and accused him of political partisanship. “It was, unfortunately, a bullet that hit my ear, and hit it hard. There was no glass, there was no shrapnel,” he said. A New York Times investigation published Friday said “a detailed analysis of bullet trajectories, footage, photos and audio… strongly suggests Mr Trump was grazed by the first of eight bullets fired by the gunman.”
(With agency inputs)
