It’s said to be the head tilt that saved former President Donald Trump’s life. Others say it was divine intervention.
While Trump was speaking at a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania on Saturday, a gunman on a rooftop pointed a high-powered rifle at him, attempting to kill the Republican front-runner. But video of the incident shows that just before the bullet reached its target, Trump tilted his head slightly to the right, allowing the bullet to graze his right ear but cause no further damage. The bullet came within an inch of hitting his brain.
a photograph New York Times photographer Doug Mills captured the split-second it took for a bullet to hit Trump in the middle of a flurry of bullets. The former president quickly clutched his ears and blood poured from his face, but he survived.
Here’s a great photo taken by my former White House press colleague, Doug Mills.
If you zoom in just above President Trump’s shoulder, you can see a bullet whizzing through the air to the right of his head after the assassination attempt. pic.twitter.com/FqmLBCytoW
—Haraz N. Ghanbari (@HarazGhanbari) July 14, 2024
- “If you’re a believer, you know there’s a reason why God saved Donald Trump,” said New York Post reporter Miranda Devine. I have written.
- “God protected President Trump,” says Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) I have written.
- “Trump came very close to losing his life,” former Secret Service agent Tim Miller told Fox News.
- “Thank God former President @realDonaldTrump is alive,” evangelist Franklin Graham said. I have written.
The gunman was shot dead by police, possibly by Secret Service agents, and one attendee at the rally was also shot dead by the would-be assassin.
This was the first assassination attempt on a president or former president since Ronald Reagan survived being shot in 1981. Gerald Ford had two attempts on him while in office in the 1970s, but was not shot. The last assassination attempt on a major presidential candidate was in 1968, when Democrat Robert F. Kennedy (brother of former President John F. Kennedy) was shot and killed while in office in 1963.
Trump’s tilt of his head at the last moment may have saved his life and prevented the bullet from hitting his brain.
“Sometimes life depends on a tilt of your head,” says director Robbie Starbuck. I have written“If President Trump hadn’t tilted his head at the last moment, he would be dead by now. It honestly feels like divine intervention.”
“Trump’s head was also moved slightly to the right, and the bullet passed through his temple,” New York Post columnist John Podhoretz wrote.
Texas Lt. Governor Dan Patrick also witnessed divine intervention. Said He texted Trump: “Just a moment, a slight movement of your head, or maybe the shield of a teleprompter, and by the grace of a merciful and holy God, your life was saved. I told you on the plane to Houston a while ago that God has been reaching out to you since you first ran for president. I believe so.”
“No one could survive all you have been through without the grace of God,” Patrick wrote in an email to Trump. “The Bible verse that reads, ‘It must have been for times like this that you were made king.’ Esther 4:14“…I thank God that your life has been spared for a time like this.”
Also read: Trump survives assassination attempt at Pennsylvania rally
Photo credit: ©GettyImages/Anna Moneymaker / Staff
Michael Faust He has covered the intersection of faith and news for 20 years, and his work has appeared in Baptist Press, Christianity Today, Christian Post, Leaf Chronicle, Toronto Star and Knoxville News Sentinel.
