If he hadn’t turned his head a few inches to the right, former President Trump likely wouldn’t have survived Saturday’s attempt on his life.
In his own words, he shouldn’t have been here.
It remains to be seen whether such an event will sway the former president, but the 78-year-old has already adjusted his message in the run-up to the Republican Party this week, softening his anti-Democratic stance and instead calling for unity and civility.
Reverend Catherine Duncan is an ordained minister in Minnesota and a hospice and trauma center chaplain who has helped hundreds of patients get through to the other side.
Based on her extensive experience, Pastor Duncan predicts a spiritual awakening in Trump, which will make him more centrist in his political views.
Donald Trump was ambushed by the Secret Service seconds after shots were fired at his Pennsylvania rally on Saturday, with one bullet grazing his right ear
Pastor Duncan told DailyMail.com: ‘There is a lot of chaos in the United States because of the election.
‘And I think that experience, I would feel, with Trump, opens up your sense of life, your feeling, your sense of experience, and how do you want to move forward?
‘There has been some political fuss about unity. Can there be unity? I can imagine that Trump is more inclined towards a middle way and unity among everyone.’
She added: “This could be a major turning point for Trump to embrace the good, to embrace how we can treat each other with love and kindness and how we can find middle ground in all the chaos right now.
“I think it’s a very strong message. And I think it can definitely touch people’s hearts.”
Many accuse Trump of being religious during his first presidential campaign to curry favor with Republican voters, and the sincerity of his faith has been questioned.
But Reverend Duncan said a near-death experience can completely change a person’s worldview, no matter how devout he or she was, “and any of us can change, open up and choose how we live our lives.”
Jason Miller, Trump’s top campaign adviser, told NBC that the former president feels “very lucky” to be alive.
And Mr. Trump said on his social media site Truth Social on Sunday that ‘it was only God who prevented the unthinkable from happening.’
Mr Trump, pictured with his grandchildren, reportedly views his survival as a “gift from God” that Reverend Duncan believes will change his path in the campaign going forward.
Normally, the term ‘near-death experience’ refers to the experience someone has when he or she has been the victim of severe trauma, has little to no brain activity, is under deep anesthesia, or has suffered cardiac arrest.
Near-death experience research is expanding rapidly, and a recent review Research into the after-effects of NDEs found that the most commonly reported effects were: loss of fear of death, a belief in divine favor, a renewed sense of purpose, increased self-esteem, and increased compassion for other people.
Pastor Duncan herself came face to face with death in a whitewater rafting incident, when she was thrown overboard and dragged deep under water.
She said the ordeal “broke me open. It gave me clarity about what really matters in life and clarity and a sense of why I’m really here and a purpose, a sense of the preciousness of life.”
This led her to quit a lucrative job at Time Inc. and pursue theological training to become a minister.
She said, ‘A lens opens your view of life and broadens your perspective, it changes your perspective on life.
“A lot of people are leaning toward what do I really want to do with my life and what’s really important? They’re feeling more hope, they’re feeling more kindness. That’s what I’ve seen a lot of.”
Trump’s comments since Saturday’s terrifying event suggest a renewed passion for the divine. This will likely lead to more religious rhetoric during the campaign and potentially more support, as people see this as a textbook example of divine intervention.
A person who spoke to the former president on Sunday said he almost ‘spiritual’ about the near-death experience he had had and the feeling that his survival had given him a ‘gift from God’.
The Reverend Catherine Duncan, an ordained minister and chaplain at both hospices and trauma centers, said “100 percent” that Trump is “leaning toward more of a middle path and unity among everyone” after his near-death experience.
All of this would amplify any candidate’s message. It could just as easily be rocket fuel for a candidate whose primary goal is to dismantle the status quo and make as much noise as possible.
That will likely be troubling to Democrats, who have spent weeks focusing on the Project 2025 plan drafted by the Heritage Foundation and approved by a former Trump aide.
The plan includes an overhaul of the Departments of Education and Health and Human Services and mass layoffs to install Trump loyalists in regulatory positions.
Democrats are now increasingly fearful that Saturday’s proceedings will turn him into a martyr and give even more power to the narrative of the persecuted victim that he has made central to his campaign.
Pastor Duncan said: ‘I think there will be different opinions depending on one’s religious beliefs. There may be more traditional Christians who say God saved him.
“But the bottom line is it wasn’t his time. And I believe he was given the gift of life.”