Former President Donald Trump is speaking out about his thoughts during the failed assassination attempt, the iconic photo, and how he “just wanted to keep speaking, but I just got shot.”
Trump spoke to the New York Post on his private jet en route to the GOP National Convention in Milwaukee on Sunday.
“The doctor at the hospital said he never saw anything like this, he called it a miracle,” Trump said.
The paper noted that Trump wore a large white bandage over his ear, but his team said no photographs could be taken.
“I’m not supposed to be here, I’m supposed to be dead,” Trump said. “I’m supposed to be dead.”
Trump said that if he had not turned his head slightly to read a chart on illegal migrants, the bullet would have killed him.
The former president also stated that he wanted to keep speaking, but the Secret Service told him it was not safe to do so and that he needed medical attention.
“A lot of people say it’s the most iconic photo they’ve ever seen,” Trump said. “They’re right and I didn’t die. Usually you have to die to have an iconic picture.”
He continued, “I just wanted to keep speaking, but I just got shot.”
Regarding his comment in the immediate aftermath about wanting to put his shoes on, he said the Secret Service had jumped on him so hard it had knocked them off.
“The agents hit me so hard that my shoes fell off, and my shoes are tight,” he said, smiling.
Trump also praised his rally attendees who stood firm and did not run from the sound of gunshots.
The Post reports:
Trump also praised the crowd at the rally, which he put at 55,000 people, for remaining calm.
“A lot of places, especially soccer games, you hear a single shot, everybody runs. Here there were many shots and they stayed.”
He added: “I love them. They are such great people.”
Trump also told the newspaper that he had prepared a tough speech attacking the administration for the RNC, but threw it away because he wants to try to unite the country.
