Donald Trump praised the graphic that “saved my life” by turning his head as a would-be assassin fired bullets at his Pennsylvania rally on Saturday.
During his speech at the end of the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, on Thursday, the former president was able to joke about the assassination attempt, after becoming emotional earlier in his speech while recounting the attack.
Trump detailed the events he experienced at his last rally and said he would never talk about it again because it was “too painful.”
During the immigration portion of his wide-ranging speech, Trump referenced the graph to which he owes his life.
“Not even four years ago, I gave this administration the strongest border in American history,” Trump said. “But you can see on the chart that my life was saved — that was the chart that saved my life.”
Donald Trump joked on stage at the Republican Convention how his favored immigration card ‘saved my life’ during the assassination attempt at his rally on Saturday
Onald Trump gestures as he is joined onstage by his wife Melania, Republican vice presidential nominee J.D. Vance and family members
Donald Trump stands on stage with former first lady Melania Trump
“I said, ‘Look at this.’ I’m so proud of it. I think it’s one of the best — it was done by Border Patrol — one of the best graphs I’ve ever seen. It showed everything exactly — you know the graph.”
Trump, his team and online analyses claim the bullet that hit his right ear was less than a quarter inch from his head and caused more serious injuries or death.
The fact that he turned his head at the last minute and looked at the illegal immigration graph on the screen during his rally may have saved the former president’s life.
At one point, Trump seemed to realize the graph was on the screens behind him in the Fiserv Forum.
“Oh, there it is. That’s pretty good. Wow,” the former president praised.
“The last time I put that chart up, I never really looked at it,” he joked. “But without that chart, I wouldn’t be here today. I never looked at it.”
‘I never saw it that day.’
The graph shows the level of illegal immigration in the US – and how it spiked after Trump left office and President Joe Biden took over. Trump said he never looked at it at his Pennsylvania rally before he was shot
Trump said at the convention that he would retell the events and that he would never do so again because it was “too painful.” The former president’s ear remained bandaged during the events after he was shot on Saturday
Trump’s turning his head to the right to look at the graph on the screen during his rally is credited with saving his life, as the bullet that hit his ear was inches away from a much deadlier impact.
Thomas Matthew Crooks, 20, used his father’s AR-style weapon to open fire at the rally on Saturday. There is still no known motive for the registered Republican who once donated to a progressive group supporting President Joe Biden.
Although Trump’s ear was the only thing the shooter hit the president with, it did kill a 50-year-old protester, a father of two, and seriously injured two others, both of whom are now in stable condition.