Donald Trump has said that he’s “supposed to be dead” as he spoke out about the split-second moment that saved his life when a would-be assassin opened fire during a campaign rally at the weekend.
In one of his first interviews since the shooting in Butler, Pennsylvania, the former president described his survival story as a “miracle” and claimed that it had given him new perspective heading into the Republican National Convention to “unite the country”.
“The doctor at the hospital said he never saw anything like this, he called it a miracle,” Trump told The New York Post while traveling to the event in Milwaukee.
“I’m not supposed to be here, I’m supposed to be dead. I’m supposed to be dead.”
In a moment that will forever go down in history, the former president was the target of an assassination attempt as he took to the stage in Butler for a rally.
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Just minutes into his campaign speech, gunman Thomas Matthew Crooks opened fire on the former president from the rooftop of a building just outside of the rally security perimeter.
Trump was struck in the ear by a bullet and leaped to the ground behind the podium as shots continued to ring out.
Secret Service agents returned fire on the gunman, shooting him dead at the scene.
Corey Comperatore, a 50-year-old former fire chief attending the rally with his family, was killed as he threw his body over his loved ones to protect them from the shooter’s spray of bullets.
Two other rallygoers – David Dutch, 57, and James Copenhaver, 74 – were injured and rushed to hospital in critical condition. By Sunday afternoon, their conditions had been updated to stable.
Trump meanwhile escaped the attack largely unscathed, with the bullet grazing his ear.
The former president acknowledged that things would have turned out very differently had he not turned his head to look at a chart he was showing the crowd – just at the moment that a bullet whizzed towards his head.
“By luck or by God, many people are saying it’s by God I’m still here,” he told the Post, describing the attack as a “very surreal experience”.
Trump said that he “just wanted to keep speaking” to his supporters after the shooting, but was whisked off stage by Secret Service agents and driven off in his motorcade.
As the agents surrounded the former president for protection, Trump – blood pouring down his face – raised his fist to the crowd and chanted “fight, fight, fight”.
The iconic image isn’t lost on Trump, who told the Post: “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.”
Trump claimed that the near-death experience had prompted him to tear up his RNC speech lashing out at Joe Biden, to instead refocus his efforts on a need to “unite the country”.
“I had all prepared an extremely tough speech, really good, all about the corrupt, horrible administration,” he said. “But I threw it away.”
Instead, his new speech – which is set to close out the event on Thursday – will focus on a very different agenda: “I want to try to unite our country.”
Senator Lindsey Graham described Trump as having “a new lease on life” following his close call with death.
This vow for unity marks a rare moment of agreement between Trump and his Democratic rival President Joe Biden, who called on Americans to “lower the temperature” of politics as he delivered a powerful address to the nation from the Oval Office on Sunday night.
“I want to speak tonight about the need to lower the temperature in our politics and to remember, though we may disagree, we are not enemies,” Biden said.
“We are neighbors, friends, co-workers, citizens. Most importantly: we are fellow Americans.”
Biden and Trump spoke by phone on Saturday night after the former president left the hospital, with both men describing the call as cordial.
While the nation reels from the attack, coming just over 100 days before Americans cast their votes in the November election, many questions remain unanswered about the events of the day.
The motive for the attack remains unclear, with authorities saying on Sunday that they are combing through Crooks’ background including trying to access his cellphone.
Explosive devices were discovered in both the gunman’s car, which was parked close to the rally, and his home.
Online records reveal that Crooks had been registered to vote as a Republican. That said, federal campaign finance reports show that he had also made a $15 contribution to a Democratic-aligned political action committee called Progressive Turnout Project on January 20, 2021.
For Crooks’ family members, the motive for the horrific attack also remains a mystery with his uncle, Mark Crooks, telling The Independent on Sunday morning that he had “no idea” why it happened.
“I don’t know what to say,” he said.
Meanwhile, the Secret Service is coming under fierce scrutiny as to whether adequate security precautions were taken before the political rally – and whether law enforcement responded rapidly enough to reports of a “suspicious person” on the day.
Witnesses have spoken out to say that they spotted the gunman climbing on top of the roof and tried to alert law enforcement on the ground before the shooting broke out.
The Secret Service has sought to push the blame onto local police, with spokesperson Anthony Gugliemi telling The New York Times that the perimeter outside of the rally fell within their remit.
On Sunday, Biden announced that he had directed Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle to carry out an “independent review” into the security at the rally, and also review security plans for the RNC.
But Trump only had positive words for the Secret Service.
“They took him out with one shot right between the eyes,” the former president said of the gunman.
“They did a fantastic job. It’s surreal for all of us.”