Former President Donald Trump, in his X interview with Elon Musk, affirmed that his faith in God has strengthened after the “miracle” of his surviving an assassination attempt.
Trump began his much-anticipated conversation with Musk by discussing the historic assassination attempt last month at a Pennsylvania rally that left Trump injured and an audience member dead.
“For those people that don't believe in God, I think we got to all start thinking about that,” Trump said, attributing his survival to divine protection. “You know... I'm believer — [but] now I'm more of a believer.” He called it “an act of God,” and added, “I’m honored by it.”
When Musk, who praised Trump’s behavior the day of the shooting, asked Trump to describe his experience, Trump answered, “I didn't know I had that much blood.“ While ears do bleed a great deal, though, “in this case, it was probably the best alternative you could even think about, because it went at the right angle,” Trump added. Being shot ”wasn't surreal,” Trump insisted. “I knew immediately that it was a bullet. I knew immediately that it was at the ear, and because it, you know, it hit very hard, but it hit the ear. And I also heard people shout, bullets, bullets... 'Get down.'"
He ducked down “pretty quickly,“ Trump went on, “and we had bullets flying right over my head after I went down. So I'm glad I went down. The bigger miracle was that I was looking in the exact direction of the shooter, and so it hit, it hit me at an angle that was far less destructive than any other angle. So that was the miracle.”
And “for those people that don't believe in God, I think we got to all start thinking about that,” the Republican nominee stated emphatically. “Now I'm more of a believer.” He said other people also told him they believe God had saved him because “it was amazing that I happened to be turned just at that perfect angle, and all because I put [up] a chart on immigration that showed that the numbers were so great. I love that chart.”
ELON: "If you hadn't turned your head..."
— Townhall.com (@townhallcom) August 13, 2024
TRUMP: "It was a miracle! If I hadn't turned my head, I would not be talking to you right now, as much as I like you..."
ELON: "Talking to you from another realm, perhaps!" pic.twitter.com/IAEaoQaVw1
A video simulation went viral online showing how the bullet would have gone straight into Trump’s head if he had not turned it to look at the illegal immigration statistics.
“It was literally about an eighth of a second... and after that, it was going to be a disaster, no matter which way you were facing,” Trump said.
Of course, one audience member, who died shielding his family, was not so fortunate as Trump.
“We lost somebody that was great, Corey [Comperatore], a firefighter, a great gentleman... He was a just a fantastic family and a fantastic man.” Trump described how he and his friends raised money both for Corey’s family and for the other audience members who were seriously injured. He praised Corey’s wife and family. “And we raised a lot of money for them, and for two other gentlemen, [who] are unbelievable people,” he said. Trump attributed the injured men’s recovery to the doctors in the Butler, Pa., area.
After that, he returned to describing his own experience at the rally, noting how worried he was, even as he was bleeding, that other people had been killed. “My first question was — because I heard bullets flying... and [I asked] how many people killed? We had a massive crowd... Because I knew there were other shots being fired, sure. And they said, 'We don't know yet, but some people have been badly hurt.'" But he praised the audience for not stampeding in panic.
Regardless of all the suffering and terror that day, Trump affirmed his faith and gratitude for his own survival. And, as Musk emphasized—especially after Trump’s own heroic behavior after being shot, pumping his fist and shouting “fight!” even as blood streamed down his face—many Americans are also very grateful for his survival and swift recovery.
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