There’s no doubt an attempted assassin’s bullet whizzed by former President Donald Trump’s head and left him with a bloody ear during a July 13 rally in Pennsylvania. But the FBI says it’s unsure the Republican candidate suffered a direct gunshot wound.
Earlier in the week, FBI director Christopher Wray testified before the House judiciary committee that “there’s some question about whether or not it’s a bullet or shrapnel that hit his ear.”
But the FBI clarified those comments in a statement Friday night, saying that either way, Trump was indeed wounded by a bullet, “whether whole or fragmented into smaller pieces.”
The 78-year-old politician was rushed off the stage when a 20-year-old gunman fired eight shots in six seconds as Trump was delivering a speech. One man was killed and two others were seriously wounded by stray bullets.
A New York Times photographer seemingly captured the moment a shot buzzed past Trump — possibly grazing his right ear, but not undeniably so. The Times reported Thursday that federal investigators had since asked to speak with Trump to further investigate the nature of his wound.
Bullets fired from AR-15 style guns like the one used in the July 13 shooting travel 3,200 feet per second and often tumble and break into fragments. Those piece can be very difficult to recover.
Dr. Ronnie Jackson, who examined Trump after the shooting, blasted the FBI for questioning what happened in Pennsylvania.
“There is absolutely no evidence that it was anything other than a bullet,” he said in a statement earlier on Friday.
Jackson’s state of Virginia medical license expired in 2020, but the Dallas Morning News said his American Board of Emergency Medicine certification allows him to provide emergency services. He’s an experienced combat medic.
Trump also took a verbal shot at Wray and insisted he suffered a bullet wound on Truth Social.
“No, it was, unfortunately, a bullet that hit my ear, and hit it hard,” he wrote on his social platform Thursday.
Trump’s wounded ear was quickly adopted as a campaign totem by supporters who bandaged their own ears to show solidarity at the Republican National Convention days after their leader was nearly killed.
Trump on Friday was seen for the first time since the shooting without a bandage on his ear while meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. His ear appeared intact and did not seem to have any significant scarring.
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