Donald Trump has said he is “supposed to be dead” as he recalled the moments after the attempt on his life.
The former president said doctors referred to his survival as a “miracle” after the shooting, which happened early on Saturday evening as he was giving a speech to supporters in Butler, Pennsylvania.
He said if he hadn’t turned his head slightly to the right moments before the shot was fired from a nearby roof by 20-year-old gunman Thomas Matthew Crooks, he would have probably been killed.
Trump shooting latest: Secret Service denies diverting resources to Jill Biden speech
Instead, the former president said the upper part of his right ear was pierced by the bullet leaving him with blood splattered on his forehead and cheek.
“I’m not supposed to be here, I’m supposed to be dead,” Trump said in an interview with the New York Post.
Sky News’ US partner network NBC, reported on Monday that the rooftop where Crooks was positioned had been identified by the Secret Service as a potential point of vulnerability in the days before the event, according to two sources familiar with the agency’s operations.
The sources said “someone should have been on the roof or securing the building”, which is owned by a glass research company, and is adjacent to the Butler Farm Show, an outdoor venue in the city.
The Secret Service said earlier that it is working with “all involved federal, state and local agencies to understand what happened, how it happened and how we can prevent an incident like this from ever taking place again”.
It said its personnel “moved quickly during the incident” but it will “fully participate” in the independent review, ordered by President Joe Biden on Sunday, into how the gunman came so close to severely wounding the former president.
Director of the Secret Service Kimberly Cheatle added that security protections have been “reviewed and strengthened” ahead of the Republican National Convention due to take place in Milwaukee later today – where Trump is expected to receive his party’s formal presidential nomination.
She said she is “confident in the security plan” put in place in the wake of Saturday’s shooting.
‘My shoes fell off’
Moments after the series of shots rang out at Saturday’s rally, Trump was seen ducking to the ground as people screamed in panic during the attack.
He was immediately mobbed by Secret Service agents seeking to shield him, who Trump said “hit him so hard” that his shoes fell off.
“The agents hit me so hard that my shoes fell off, and my shoes are tight,” Trump told the New York Post – explaining why he was heard on footage of the incident saying: “Wait, I want to get my shoes.”
The Secret Service said it killed Crooks, described by his former classmate as an “outcast” who regularly wore hunting outfits when he was at school.
He was registered as a Republican voter in Pennsylvania, but federal campaign finance reports also show he gave $15 to a progressive political action committee on the day Biden was sworn into office in January 2021.
Crooks used an AR-style rifle to carry out the assassination attempt, which authorities said they believe was bought by his father.
Trump wants to ‘call families’ of victims
One audience member, 50-year-old Corey Comperatore, died at the rally after trying to shield his family from the bullets.
Two other victims of the shooting are still in a critical condition, Pennsylvania state governor Josh Shapiro, said on Sunday.
When asked if he had given any thought to attending Mr Comperatore’s funeral, Trump said yes, before asking his aides to get the numbers of the hospitals the victims are in as he wanted to “call all the families”.
He went on to praise the crowd at the rally, which he said was 55,000-people strong, for remaining calm and staying after hearing gunshots.
“I love them,” he said. “They are such great people.”
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He went on to call a picture of him holding up his fist, his face streaked in blood, “iconic”.
Trump said: “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.”
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