Former president Donald Trump said he was shot in the ear in his first statement after the shooting at his rally in Pennsylvania on Saturday, adding that he “immediately felt the bullet ripping through the skin” in a post on his Truth Social account.
Trump extended his condolences to the family of the person who was killed at the rally as well as to another injured party.
“I want to thank The United States Secret Service, and all of Law Enforcement, for their rapid response on the shooting that just took place in Butler, Pennsylvania,” Trump said on Truth Social. “Most importantly, I want to extend my condolences to the family of the person at the Rally who was killed, and also to the family of another person that was badly injured.”
The Republican candidate for this year’s presidential race continued:
“It is incredible that such an act can take place in our Country. Nothing is known at this time about the shooter, who is now dead. I was shot with a bullet that pierced the upper part of my right ear. I knew immediately that something was wrong in that I heard a whizzing sound, shots, and immediately felt the bullet ripping through the skin. Much bleeding took place, so I realized then what was happening. GOD BLESS AMERICA!”
Trump had been addressing the crowd for around five minutes when shots rang out. He seemed to grab at his right ear before he was told to duck by Secret Service agents who jumped on top of him.
Following the shots, Trump appeared to have blood on his face as he held up his fist and mouthed “Fight” at the crowd several times while being led away by his Secret Service detail. The crowd broke into a “USA” chant.
The event is being investigated as an attempted assassination, law enforcement officials told CNN.
President Biden was quick to condemn the violence in live remarks on Saturday following the shooting.
“Look, there’s no place in America for this kind of violence. It’s sick. It’s sick,” the president continued. “It’s one of the reasons why we have to unite this country. We cannot allow for this to be happening. We cannot be like this. We cannot condone this.”
Biden said he hoped to speak with Trump later on Saturday and was “grateful” his Republican opponent wasn’t seriously harmed.
“I want to thank the Secret Service and all the agencies, including the state agencies, that have been engaged,” Biden added. “We have more detail to come relative to other injured — other people may be injured in the audience. I don’t have all that detail. We’ll make that available to you. I may be able to come back a little later tonight.”
“But the bottom line is that the Trump rally was a rally that he should have been able to be conducted peacefully without any problem,” the Democratic candidate lamented. “But the idea that there’s political violence, or violence in America like this is just unheard of, is just not appropriate.”
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