What exactly grazed former President Donald Trump’s ear during an assassination attempt on July 13, 2024, has left the public in a frenzy of speculation, with some believing that Trump was hit by a bullet, while others argue that it was merely shrapnel from a teleprompter that was hit.
What did Mr. Trump say?
According to a statement from the former President himself, he was indeed struck by a bullet. “No, it was, unfortunately, a bullet that hit my ear and hit it hard. There was no glass, there was no shrapnel. The hospital called it a ‘bullet wound to the ear,’ and that is what it was,” Trump declared on Truth Social.
Addressing the suggestions that Trump may have been hit by shrapnel from the teleprompter rather than a bullet, the former physician of Mr. Trump, Ronny Jackson, had said that there is no evidence to support that anything but a bullet had hit the former President.
What do the investigation agencies say?
The FBI has weighed in on the controversy, with Director Christopher Wray stating that there is some uncertainty surrounding the nature of Trump’s injury. “There is some uncertainty surrounding the precise nature of Donald Trump’s injury from the recent assassination attempt in Pennsylvania,” Wray said during a hearing.
The debate has even reached the House Judiciary Committee, with members questioning the FBI director about the incident.
The fallout
Regardless of what hit the former President of the US, the attack and the resulting injury have raised major safety concerns, and Secret Service’s director Kimberly Cheatle has resigned from her post.