A day after foiled assassination attempt on Donald Trump that left the suspect and an attendee dead, the former US President reacted to the shooting and said that if he hadn’t looked away from the crowd “in that moment”, he wouldn’t have been alive.
Recalling the incident that left him injured in his right ear, Trump told the New York Post, “I’m not supposed to be here, I’m supposed to be dead.”
In another interview to Washington Examiner, he said, “I rarely look away from the crowd.Had I not done that in that moment, well, we would not be talking today, would we?”
Trump also commented on the powerful photograph capturing him raising his fist and repeatedly urging “fight”. “A lot of people say it’s the most iconic photo they’ve ever seen,” Trump said.
“They’re right and I didn’t die. Usually you have to die to have an iconic picture,” he added.
Several videos surfaced on the internet showing Trump tilting his head the moment shots were fired, injuring his right ear. The Secret Service rushed and “hit me so hard that my shoes fell off, and my shoes are tight,” he told the New York Post.
“They did a fantastic job,” he added.
US President Joe Biden too addressed the nation on Monday saying, “There is no place in America for this kind of violence, for any violence ever. Period. No exceptions. We can’t allow this violence to be normalized.”
“The political rhetoric in this country has gotten very heated. It’s time to cool it down,” he added.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) took lead in the investigation. “The FBI has assumed the role of the lead federal law enforcement agency in the investigation of the incident involving former President Donald Trump that occurred earlier today in Butler, Pennsylvania,” it said.