Donald Trump revealed how his loved ones reacted to the failed assassination attempt on him during a fundraiser in Beverley Hills on Friday night.
In a video obtained exclusively by DailyMail.com, Trump said some of his friends had had a religious awakening over the shockingly close assassination attempt on his life, adding that one of his sons made a wild analogy to golf.
The former president revealed that he believes the shooting at his July campaign rally was God’s way of saying “we want you to help our country.”
He added: “Some of my friends have gotten religious about this. My son said it was like dropping a putt with one foot.
“It would be the equivalent from that distance, and then (the shooter) was taken out by a shooter.”
Images obtained by DailyMail.com of the former president speaking at a fundraising event in Beverley Hills on Friday night
Trump said he believes the assassination attempt was God’s way of saying “we want you to help our country.”
The 78-year-old added: “I have to say this about the Secret Service: They were very brave because I was on the ground and they were all on top of me within seconds, they were in the line of fire.”
He also mentioned the hospital he was taken to and its staff, saying they loved him.
Thomas Matthew Crooks, 20, fired eight bullets that hit Trump in the ear and wounded three rally-goers, one fatally, on July 13 in Butler, Pennsylvania, at a rally.
Trump recovered from his injuries and appeared at the Republican National Convention two days later, while Crooks was shot dead at the scene.
Crooks had parked his vehicle near the protest site in Butler before climbing onto the roof of a nearby industrial manufacturing building.
From his elevated position, almost as close to the president as the Secret Service snipers who were there to protect him, Crooks had a clear, unobstructed line of fire and, armed with his father’s AR-15 rifle, he fired.
A fortuitous turn of Trump’s head, not the snipers’ quick response, was the difference between a low shot from Crooks’ bullet and a fatal shot.
Crooks was killed by a sniper seconds after opening fire on the former president and Republican presidential candidate.
Crooks was seen wandering around merchandise stalls less than two hours before he wounded the former president.
Trump, seen here being surrounded by Secret Service agents, recovered from his injuries and appeared at the Republican National Convention two days later.
An internal Secret Service investigative report has since confirmed that multiple catastrophic security failures occurred prior to the shooting.
Officials called the entire operation to protect the former president “alarmingly sloppy” and that its communications system had “significant weaknesses.”
Much has already been revealed about irregular communication between local police, but the investigation found that the Secret Service did not have access to real-time updates from local police.
When nearby authorities were contacted about a suspicious man who appeared at the rally, he was not heard on Secret Service Radio, which is used by the service instead of the military-backed systems employed to protect the president and vice president.
The snipers who ultimately eliminated Crooks were initially told to text photos to a single Secret Service official, meaning a bulletin could not be sent to all locations.
This activity took place even though police had seen Crooks carrying a rangefinder and said he was behaving strangely.
Officials called the entire operation to protect the former president “alarmingly sloppy” and that its communications system had “significant weaknesses.”
No Secret Service member was then able to learn of authorities’ attempt to find Crooks after he was spotted as Trump began his speech and never secured the roof of the AGR building he used to shoot.
The investigation reportedly went beyond the shooting, however, with the revelation that the Secret Service was slow to step up security for Trump during the campaign, despite an Iranian plot to kill American political candidates.
American leaders, such as Senator Richard Blumenthal, who sits on the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, have said they expect a bombshell from the results of the investigation.
“I think the American people will be shocked, amazed and horrified by what we will report to them about the failures of the Secret Service in this attempted assassination of the former president,” he said Thursday.
Leaders have already begun to emerge within the organization after disgraced director Kim Cheadle resigned following the shooting.
The Secret Service confirmed that the deputy director of the Office of Protective Operations, Mike Plati, resigned before the report was released Friday, while top executive John Buckley and an unnamed senior agent based in Pittsburgh will retire.
