Donald Trump touted the graphic that “saved my life” by turning his head as a would-be assassin opened fire at his rally in Pennsylvania on Saturday.
Speaking at the end of the Republican Convention in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, on Thursday, the former president was able to crack a joke about the assassination attempt after earlier getting emotional in his remarks recounting the attack.
Trump gave a moment-by-moment recount of the events he experienced at his last rally and said he would never talk about it again because it is “too painful.”
During the immigration portion of his lengthy acceptance speech, Trump referenced the graph he credits for his life.
“Less than four years ago, I handed over to this administration the strongest border in American history,” Trump said. “But you can see from the chart that saved my life: That was the chart that saved my life.”
Donald Trump joked onstage at the Republican Convention about how his favorite immigration graphic “saved my life” during the assassination attempt at his rally on Saturday
Donald Trump gestures as he is joined on stage by his wife Melania, Republican vice presidential nominee JD Vance and members of his family.
Donald Trump takes the stage with former first lady Melania Trump
“I said, ‘Look at this.’ I’m very proud of it. I think it’s one of the best charts I’ve ever seen, done by Border Patrol. It showed everything just as it was. You know, the chart.”
Trump, his team and online analysis say the bullet that hit his right ear was less than a quarter-inch from hitting his head and causing much more serious injuries or death.
A last-minute turn of the head to look at the illegal immigration graphic on the screen during his rally may have saved the former president’s life.
At one point, Trump appeared to notice the graphic on screens behind him at the Fiserv Forum.
“Ah, there it is. It’s pretty good. Wow!” the former president praised.
“The last time I put that chart on the table, I didn’t look at it,” he joked. “But without that chart, I wouldn’t be here today. I never looked at it.”
“I never got to see him that day.”
The chart shows the rate of illegal immigration in the United States and how it skyrocketed after Trump left office and President Joe Biden took over. Trump said he never got to look at it during his rally in Pennsylvania before he was shot.
Trump said at the convention that he would recount the events and would never do so again because it is “too painful.” The former president’s ear remained bandaged during the events after he was shot on Saturday.
Trump’s turn of his head to the right to look at the graphic on the screen during his rally is believed to have saved his life because the bullet that hit his ear was just inches away from a far more lethal impact.
Thomas Matthew Crooks, 20, used his father’s AR-style weapon to open fire at Saturday’s rally. The motive of the registered Republican who once donated to a progressive group backing President Joe Biden is not yet known.
While Trump’s ear was the only thing the gunman hit on the president, he also took the life of a 50-year-old rally-goer and father of two and seriously injured two others who are now in stable condition.