“I’m supposed to be dead.”
In his first exclusive interview after the attempt on his life, former President Donald Trump is both grateful and defiant; “The doctor at the hospital said he never saw anything like this, he called it a miracle,” Trump told the New York Post’s Michael Goodwin aboard his jet en route to the GOP National Convention in Milwaukee.
“I’m not supposed to be here, I’m supposed to be dead,” Trump said. “I’m supposed to be dead.”
From The New York Post:
He said he would be if he had not turned his head slightly to the right to read a chart on illegal immigrants. At that instant, what would have been a kill shot tore off a small piece of his ear and splattered blood on his forehead and cheek.
Trump said that as Secret Service agents led him off stage, he still wanted to continue speaking to supporters, but the agents told him it wasn’t safe and they had to get him to a hospital.
He marveled at how the agents came flying in like “linebackers” as soon as the shooting started, and he unbuttoned his long-sleeve white shirt to show a large bruise on his right forearm.
He also cleared up a mystery about his shoes. On the video of the shooting and aftermath, as the burly agents tried to rush him off the stage for safety, he can be heard saying, “Wait, I want to get my shoes.”
As he explained in the interview, “The agents hit me so hard that my shoes fell off, and my shoes are tight,” he said with a smile.
He commended the Secret Service personnel for their heroic actions and praised them for gunning down the shooter, who was perched on a roof about 130 yards from the stage where Trump was speaking.
Read the full interview over at The New York Post:
Today's cover: Grateful, defiant Trump recounts surviving ‘surreal’ assassination attempt at rally: ‘I’m supposed to be dead’ https://t.co/mpGueO3E7G pic.twitter.com/gz0lV7tlY8
— New York Post (@nypost) July 15, 2024