The attempted assassination of Donald Trump will be etched in the history of America forever. Although he is not the first U.S. President to hear gunshots during a crowded rally, he sure was lucky enough to dodge the bullet as it just grazed his right ear. However, it still left him with a wound, and the Republican leader says that his ear “still throbs” to this day.
The perpetrator, 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks, took his shot at Trump from a nearby rooftop, carrying an AR-15-style rifle. While the President, at that time the Republican Party nominee, was lucky enough to live, the bullets killed one attendee and critically injured two others at the Pennsylvania rally that day. Later, he was gunned down by a Secret Service counter-sniper team.
Almost a year later, more details about the chaos have been revealed, seemingly indicating how the assassination attempt played a role in his victory in the 2024 Presidential election. Alex Isenstadt, in his new book, Revenge: The Inside Story of Trump’s Return to Power, describes the backstage scenario of Trump and his team’s election campaign, along with more insights into the shocking assassination attempt at Butler.
The journalist explains how Donald Trump ducked behind the podium. As crooks continued to fire eight rounds, the Secret Service agents shielded him. In particular, Sean Curran’s move was applaudable, as he threw himself over Trump just to protect him from what could have put his life in immense danger.
“It was chaos. Rally-goers behind Trump – some of whom just moments before were holding placards reading ‘Joe Biden: You’re Fired!’ – cowered. The agents were talking to one another, trying to figure out what was next.” Alex next describes how, despite having just been shot in his right ear, Trump told the agents, “Let me get my shoes.”
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“Trump’s shoes had slipped off during the maelstrom. The former President had as of late been wearing shoes made by the Swiss manufacturer Bally. While the shoes were designed to be tied on, Trump had turned them into slip-ons. Trump appeared to search for them, and then stood up, looking as if he were in shock,“ Alex writes.
Merely minutes later, Donald Trump pumped his fist and shouted three times, “Fight, fight, fight!“ a moment in history. While most of these were captured on camera, Isensdat provides what happened after the attempt on his life. He writes, “The detail guided Trump offstage, his typically immaculately sprayed gold hair out of place and his bloodied MAGA hat in hand. Descending the stairs, he wrapped his arms around an agent to his right. The loyal Curran was on his left.”
𝐓𝐫𝐮𝐦𝐩 𝐀𝐬𝐬𝐚𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐀𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐦𝐩𝐭:
8 bullets fired at President Trump, killing one bystander, and leaving Trump with an injury to his face.
The former President could be seen ducking as the crowd screamed as a shooter fired from a rooftop at the rally in… pic.twitter.com/DpcTwLmNl7
— Oli London (@OliLondonTV) July 14, 2024
Alex further explains that it took the Secret Service agent some twenty seconds to get Donald Trump inside his SUV and that the then-Republican nominee raised his arm once more. The emergency situation further unfolded when Trump was escorted to the Butler Memorial Hospital.
“Wiles, Cheung, Scavino, and Nauta headed for the emergency room. The building was going into lockdown. Secret Service agents had their long guns out; nurses were wheeling patients out of units so they could create a secure wing for Trump,“ the journalist unveiled. He continued that Donald Trump was then stretched into the emergency room. He got rid of his bloody hat, white collared shirt, and suit jacket, only wearing his pants and undershirt.
However, in the end, the shoes he was first looking for were left on site and later retrieved and brought to the hospital. The next few moments were extremely intense. While Trump was taken into a separate room, phones flooded with calls and texts from media outlets asking for an update. One network also claimed that he had passed away, which his team quickly refuted, confirming he was “fine.“ Even in that moment, he couldn’t help but take a jab at Joe Biden. As Alex reveals, he asked a nurse, “Can you give me a copy of these [CT scan reports]? Because I want to make sure I can show reporters that my cognitive function is 100 percent. You can’t say the same about Joe Biden.
He also kept up his spirit throughout. In his book, the journalist elaborates how he exclaimed “Wow, that’s iconic. That’s the most American picture I’ve ever seen,“ after having a look at the photos from the attack. He also said, “This is going to make some news,“ and joked “This is going into the museum,“ after getting back his bloodied clothes.
However, his injury wasn’t extremely serious as Donald Trump didn’t require extensive medical treatment. Shortly after the assassination attempt, he was discharged from the hospital and later went on to win a glorious victory against his Democratic rival Kamala Harris.
