A bullet hit Donald Trump’s ear in an assassination attempt, the FBI confirmed, after its own director cast doubt on the cause of the injury, fueling anger and conspiracy theories.
The statement follows ambiguous comments from Christopher Wray earlier in the week, which fueled new tensions between the Republican presidential candidate and the law enforcement agency following the July 13 attack.
He former president He narrowly escaped with his life the shooting at a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, which left one person dead and two others seriously injured.
The 20-year-old gunman Thomas Crooks He was killed by a Secret Service sniper.
Many of Trump’s supporters believe his survival was the result of divine intervention, while the mogul has also said he had “God on your side” and “took a bullet for democracy.”
The moment Donald Trump realized it, he was hit. Photo: Reuters
Secret Service agents rushed to protect the former president. Photo: AP
The snipers returned fire. Photo: AP
Wray’s testimony before Congress this week – that investigators were unsure whether Trump’s injury was caused by a bullet or shrapnel – sparked an angry response from his campaign team.
Trump also lashed out at Wray in a post on his Truth Social network, saying “it’s no wonder the once-famous FBI has lost America’s trust.”
Former White House doctor Ronny Jackson, a staunch Trump ally who has been treating him since the attack, said the suggestion that his injury was caused by anything other than a bullet was reckless.
He said: “It was a gunshot wound.
“You can’t make statements like that. It leads to all these conspiracy theories.”
Donald Trump raised a defiant first before being escorted away after being wounded. Photo: AP
In a subsequent letter published on Friday, Dr Jackson wrote: “There is absolutely no evidence that it was anything other than a bullet.
“Director Wray is wrong and it is inappropriate to suggest anything else.”
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A few hours after his statement, the FBI said: “What hit former President Trump in the ear was a bullet, whole or fragmented into smaller pieces, fired from the deceased subject’s rifle.”
Kimberly Cheatle recently resigned as director of the US Secret Service, responsible for protecting presidents and former presidents, over the assassination attempt, acknowledging it was the “most significant operational failure” in decades.
Trump shooting was ‘most significant failure’
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Meanwhile, Trump has said he plans to return to Butler to hold another rally to honor Corey Comperatore, the 50-year-old volunteer firefighter who died in the attack, and other injured supporters.
Although he didn’t give a date for the event, he told his followers, “Stay tuned.”
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