Exclusive: The man who helped create the now-infamous immigration chart that some credited with saving former President Trump’s life during an assassination attempt last weekend said the “Bulletproof” visual is one of hundreds he’s created over the past few years.
Like many others who saw Trump turn his head for a split second to look at a chart just as the bullet pierced his right ear, Badger Institute policy director Patrick McIlheran called it providence.
“You have to think there’s a lot of divine agency in this and that head turn and all that,” McIlheran said in an interview with Fox News Digital. “It’s often hard to get people to pay attention to a graph. It’s an important thing, it’s an important topic, and you hope people will look at it. This particular twist in the story has made everybody look at the graph.”
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Republican presidential candidate and former US President Donald Trump delivers his acceptance speech on the fourth day of the Republican National Convention (RNC) at the Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee, Wisconsin on July 18, 2024, as the turnout gear and helmet of former Buffalo Township Fire Chief Corey Comperatore, who was killed at the rally last week, are displayed along with a chart shown at the rally. (Reuters/Mike Seeger)
“That’s good to hear,” McIlheran continued, “Senator Johnson’s numbers are remarkable, and if by some twist of fate he has saved us from a terrible crisis, all the better.”
McIlellan called it a “team effort,” and first created the chart for Sen. Ron Johnson’s office while working there for more than a decade. He said Johnson’s office still uses the chart, which he updates monthly to track Border Patrol apprehensions along the Southwest border. Trump and Vance’s teams also add their own information to the chart.
Asked what he would say to the former president about the chart’s role in the assassination attempt, McIlheran responded, “Ron Johnson’s numbers will save your life. Keep that in mind.”
On Saturday, July 13, a gunman identified as 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks fired a shot at Trump’s head at a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania. The bullet narrowly missed Trump as he turned to look at an immigration graph on one of the screens; instead, it grazed his right ear. Crooks fired several more shots, wounding two people and killing 50-year-old former fire chief Corey Comperatore before being shot and killed by a Secret Service sniper.
McEachern said that when he watched the video clip of the assassination attempt, he noticed Trump “talking about something on the other side of the screen.”
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Republican presidential candidate and former president Donald Trump referenced the graph on immigration during his speech at the Republican National Convention, Thursday, July 18, 2024, in Milwaukee. (AP Photo/Julia Nickinson)
“And then when he turns around and I look at the still image, I realize, wow, this is Ron Johnson’s graph,” he said. “It’s like, ‘Oh my goodness, this is that beloved old graph.'”
During his first major speech since the assassination attempt on the final day of the Republican National Convention (RNC) on Thursday night, President Trump referenced the graph when speaking about illegal immigration.
“Less than four years ago, I handed this administration the strongest border in American history. But if you look at this chart, you’ll see it saved my life. That chart is what saved my life,” Trump said, as a chart was projected on a screen behind him.
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Former President Donald Trump arrives at the Republican National Convention (RNC) at Fiserv Forum, Wednesday, July 17, 2024, in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. (David Paul Morris/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
President Trump told the audience he was proud of the graph, which showed that illegal border crossings had been declining under his administration but have skyrocketed in recent years.
“Oh, this is amazing. This is amazing,” Trump said after noticing the graph on the screen at the Republican National Convention. “The last time I put this graph out, I didn’t get a chance to look at it properly. Without this graph, I wouldn’t be here today.”
In his speech on Thursday, President Trump paid tribute to Comperatore and the two injured soldiers, David Duch and James Copenhaver, calling them “great warriors.”
Fox News Digital’s Michael Lee contributed to this report.
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