Former President Donald Trump, in a highly-anticipated speech at the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, Wisconsin on Thursday, said it was only by the “grace of Almighty God” that he is here today, detailing the moment he nearly died and saying that at many moments he felt safe because God was on his side.
Americans were eagerly awaiting Trump’s first public statement, less than a week after the former president nearly lost his life, in what most would call a miracle from heaven, as he thanked Americans for their love and support following the assassination attempt at a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania.
“As you all know, an assassin’s bullet came very close to taking my life. Many of you have asked, ‘what happened?’ and I will tell you what happened,” Trump said in his prepared remarks, but added, “You will never hear this story from me again because it is too painful to tell,” in a move that must have caught the attention of millions of people across the country.
“It was a warm, beautiful day in the evening in Butler County, Pennsylvania,” he began, describing the raucous music and joyful crowd that day. He discussed what his administration has done about illegal immigration, then turned to a screen displaying a chart of border crossings under his leadership.
“I started to turn like this to the right, to look at the charts, and I was going to pivot a little bit more, but I’m really glad I didn’t, and then I heard a loud whoosh and something hit me really hard on my right ear,” he said, explaining, “I thought, ‘Wow, what was that? That must be a bullet.'”
“There was just blood everywhere,” he said, describing how he put his hand to his ear and saw blood.
“I immediately realized the severity of the situation, I was under attack and I immediately dropped to the ground,” he said, noting that bullets continued to fly as Secret Service agents arrived.
“There was blood everywhere, but in a way I felt very safe because I had God on my side,” Trump said of God.
Defiant: Bloodied Trump pumps fist at crowd after possible shooting at rally
C-SPAN
“What’s amazing is that if I hadn’t moved my head at the last moment, right before the shot was fired, the assassin’s bullet would have hit its target perfectly. If I hadn’t, I wouldn’t be here tonight and we wouldn’t be together,” he said, explaining that the most amazing thing was that the crowd didn’t panic or run wild. Instead, they stood still, and many stood up, looking for the shooter and pointing in his direction.
“Nobody ran, and the crowd didn’t go berserk, which saved a lot of lives, but that’s not why they didn’t move, it’s because they knew I was in a very serious situation. They saw me fall, they saw the blood, and actually most people thought I was dead,” he said, because they knew it was a shot to the head.
But the crowds refused to abandon him, he said.
“You can see the love in their faces,” he said, calling them amazing people.
“Bullets were flying over our heads. I still felt calm. But now the Secret Service agents were putting themselves in danger. They were in very dangerous territory. Bullets were flying over their heads, missing them by inches, and then it all stopped,” he said.
“Our Secret Service sniper took the assassin’s life with just one bullet from a great distance,” he said, adding, “I wasn’t supposed to be here tonight.”
This prompted the crowd to chant “Yes!” and encourage him.
Trump later claimed he survived by the grace of God, and God’s grace alone.
“Thank you, but I’m not. I can honestly say that it is by the grace of Almighty God that I am standing before you on this stage,” Trump declared.
Trump spoke about the moment he raised his arms to let Americans know he was OK.
“I raised my right arm, looked at thousands, thousands of people waiting with bated breath, and began to yell, ‘Fight, fight, fight!’ And you saw my fist go high into the air,” he said, as footage of the moment flashed behind him.
Trump said that once the crowd realized he was safe, they erupted in “a cheer of pride for our country the likes of which I’ve never heard before.”
“I’ve never heard anything like it,” he said, adding that he appreciated the love shown by “a huge crowd of patriots who bravely stood up on that fateful night in Pennsylvania.”
President Trump also held a moment of silence for victim Corey Comperatore, who was onstage wearing a firefighter’s uniform and then went over to his helmet and kissed it.
Republican presidential candidate and former president Donald Trump kisses the helmet of Cory Comperatore during the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, on July 18, 2024. (AP Photo/Matt Luke)
“He was a really fine man,” Trump said.
“Greater love has no man than to lay down his life for another,” the president said, quoting a verse from the Bible. “This is the spirit on which America was founded in its darkest hour, and this is the love that will once again lead America to the heights of human achievement and greatness. This is what we need.”
“Despite this heinous attack, we stand together tonight, more determined and united than ever before. I am more determined than ever. So are you. So is everyone,” Trump added.
“Just a few days ago, our journey together nearly came to an end. But tonight we gather here talking about America’s future, its promise, its renewal. We live in a world of miracles,” Trump is expected to say later in the speech.
“But if the events of last Saturday demonstrate anything, it’s that every moment we spend on Earth is a gift from God,” Trump said in prepared remarks.
