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Getty ImagesFormer US President Donald Trump said he “should be dead” after an assassination attempt at a rally in Pennsylvania on Saturday night.
In his first interview after the incident, Trump told American conservative media that he felt he was saved “either by luck or by God.”
“The most incredible thing is that not only did I happen to turn around [my head] But turn at the right time and with the right amount,” he said, adding that a bullet grazing his ear could easily have killed him.
“I should be dead, I shouldn’t be here,” he said.
One spectator was killed in the attack and two others were seriously injured. The gunman who also died was named Thomas Matthew Crooks.
Trump described the moment he looked up at the crowd after realizing he had been shot.
“At that moment, the energy came from the people there, they were just standing there. It’s hard to describe the feeling, but I knew the whole world was watching me.
“I knew history would judge this, and I knew I had to let them know we were OK,” he told the Washington Examiner.
Trump spoke as he prepared to board a flight to the upcoming Republican National Convention (RNC) in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, where he is expected to be confirmed as the party’s presidential nominee. “An opportunity to unite the country.”
He said his speech will now be completely different and will not be primarily a “buzz” about policies he had previously planned for now-President Joe Biden.
“have [Saturday’s attack] If it hadn’t happened, this would have been one of the most incredible speeches ever given.
“Honestly, it’s going to be a completely different speech now. It’s an opportunity to bring the country together.
Earlier, Trump wrote on his social media platform Truth Social that he originally planned to postpone his trip to Wisconsin for two days.
But he added that he stood by his original schedule: “I cannot allow ‘shooters’ or potential assassins to force changes to the schedule.”
Trump said the assassination attempt “had an impact” on him.
Little is known about Crooks’ motivationsThe 20-year-old would-be assassin was shot dead on the spot by the Secret Service.
The FBI said that while its investigation showed Crooks acted alone, it would continue to investigate whether the kitchen worker received help.
The spectator killed in Saturday’s attack was Corey Comperatore, a 50-year-old volunteer fire captain who died protecting his family.
In a televised speech after the attack, President Biden called for lowering the “political temperature”.
“We cannot, absolutely cannot go down this path again. We have been down this path before in our history,” Biden said, citing the increasing number of violent political acts that have occurred in the United States in recent years.
“In America, we resolve our differences at the ballot box,” he added, “at the ballot box.” Not with bullets.
