Former President Trump is now breaking his silence on the assassination attempt against him during a rally on Saturday in Butler, Pennsylvania.
“I’m not supposed to be here, I’m supposed to be dead,” Trump told the New York Post. “I’m supposed to be dead.”
“The doctor at the hospital said he never saw anything like this, he called it a miracle,” Trump also told the newspaper onboard his private plane while heading to Milwaukee, Wisconsin, for this week’s Republican National Convention. “By luck or by God, many people are saying it’s by God I’m still here.”
Trump told the Post that had he not turned his head slightly to the right to read a chart on illegal immigration, the bullet that grazed him would have been fatal.
He described the Secret Service agents that rushed at him like “linebackers,” mentioning another one eliminated the gunman with “one shot right between the eyes.”
“They did a fantastic job,” he told the Post. “It’s surreal for all of us.”
As Secret Service agents rushed Trump off the stage, he was heard saying he wanted to get his shoes.
“The agents hit me so hard that my shoes fell off, and my shoes are tight,” he explained to the Post.
Trump, reacting to images of him raising his fist and being surrounded by Secret Service agents in the seconds following the shooting, said, “A lot of people say it’s the most iconic photo they’ve ever seen.”
“They’re right and I didn’t die. Usually you have to die to have an iconic picture,” he added. “I just wanted to keep speaking, but I just got shot.”
Trump also told the New York Post that he appreciated the “fine” and “very nice” call he received from President Biden in the aftermath of the event, noting – without specifics – that the race between them could be more civil going forward.
He praised his rally audience for staying calm during the entire incident.
“A lot of places … you hear a single shot, everybody runs. Here there were many shots and they stayed,” Trump said. “I love them. They are such great people.”
The Republican National Convention starts today (Monday) and former president Donald Trump is undeterred from speaking at the event despite the recent attempt on his life. The R-N-C will last four days and former president Trump is expected to announce his running mate choice.
More about man who died protecting his family at the rally. BETHEL PARK, Penn. – EXCLUSIVE: The volunteer firefighter who died shielding his family from a sniper’s bullets intended for former President Donald Trump during a rally in Butler County, Pennsylvania is being remembered as a selfless “girl dad” and churchgoing family man who put others before himself on a regular basis.
Corey Comperatore, 50, died Saturday night while shielding his wife and family from gunfire after a 20-year-old man snuck onto a roof and started shooting at Trump during a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania.
“It’s just so typical of him, the way it all happened, with protecting his wife and his daughter and just throwing himself on top of them when they hear the shooting,” said Eileen Shamanski, whose children grew up playing soccer alongside Comperatore’s daughters.
“He was an all around good guy that was always there to lend a hand and support not just his own children but all the other kids who were friends of their girls and on the team,” she told Fox News Digital. “He had a just give it your all attitude, [and] a lot of kids respected him for that, just always being there supporting, giving those pep talks to get them going. It’s going to be a big loss.”
Their families have been close for years due to their girls’ common interest in travel soccer, she said. And although Comperatore worked long hours and volunteered to battle flames in his downtime, he never missed a game or a practice, she said.
“We didn’t think it was true at first, when my daughters called me crying,” she said. “Then we saw his wife and daughter on the news, when they were tending to him – it was just a sad thing to see, so sad, but I know he would’ve done it again in a heartbeat if it came down to it.”
“It makes a difference when you’re there in the stands to cheer them on,” she said. “The girls, you could see it in their faces, they just opened up with him, and he would travel for away tournaments. Him and his wife were always there, always being there to support them.”
Both daughters are in their 20s now, she said.
Secret Service agents shot and killed the suspect, Thomas Matthew Crooks, within moments of his first shot. But not before he killed Comperatore and wounded two more bystanders, according to authorities.
Trump himself said a bullet tore through part of his right ear and was pictured with blood on the side of his head as agents led him offstage. Before he got into his motorcade, he raised a fist, prompting cheers from the crowd.
“Corey died a hero,” Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro told reporters on Saturday, after speaking with Comperatore’s wife Helen. “Corey dove on his family to protect them.”
In a post from one of his daughter’s Allyson, that was no longer public Sunday, she remembered him as “the best dad a girl could ask for.”
“The media will not tell you that he died a real-life super hero,” she continued. “They are not going to tell you how quickly he threw my mom and I to the ground. They are not going to tell you that he shielded my body from the bullet that came at us.” Comperatore was an engineer and a volunteer firefighter. He attended church every Sunday and by many accounts would help out anyone in a heartbeat.
More about the suspected shooter:
The FBI has taken on the role of lead investigator into the shooting. Authorities said Sunday they had no known motive, Crooks had no criminal record or documented history of mental illness.
But authorities said they did found bomb-making materials in his vehicle, and that they were focused on retrieving data from his phone records.
Bethel Park School District can confirm that the shooter in the July 13, 2024, assassination attempt on former President Donald J. Trump is a graduate of Bethel Park High School. Thomas Matthew Crooks graduated from Bethel Park High School with the Class of 2022. (Bethel Park School District)
“What we witnessed yesterday was nothing short of an attack on democracy and our democratic process,” FBI Director Christopher Wray told reporters on a conference call Sunday. “An attempt to assassinate a presidential candidate can only be described as absolutely despicable and will not be tolerated in this country.”
An aerial view shows vehicles of law enforcement members who work at the home of 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks, named by the FBI as the shooter in the attempted assassination of former U.S. President Donald Trump, in Bethel Park, Pennsylvania, U.S. July 14, 2024. (REUTERS/Brendan McDermid)
The attack prompted widespread condemnation from leaders around the world, across political lines.
Story courtesy of Fox News
