News Brief
"By The Grace Of Almighty God": Trump Accepts Republican Presidential Nomination Days After Assassination Attempt
Donald Trump
After accepting his nomination as the Republican presidential candidate, former US President Donald Trump recounted the assassination attempt on him during a campaign rally in Pennsylvania last week.
"I am not supposed to be here tonight. I am not supposed to be here," he told the crowd, who responded with chants of "Yes, you are."
"I stand before you in this arena only by the grace of almighty God," he said, adding that many have described the moment as "divine intervention".
Trump explained that the bullet missed him because he leaned forward seconds before the shot was fired to look at a screen displaying immigration data.
"I began to turn a little bit further, which I am very lucky I did not do," he said.
"If I had not moved my head at the very last instant, the assassin's bullet would have perfectly hit its mark, and I would not be with you tonight."
The bullet that missed him by a few inches, grazed his ear even as the 78-year-old Republican nominee sought cover behind the podium and was quickly whisked off the stage by Secret Service agents.
“I said to myself, ‘Wow, what was that - it can only be a bullet' - and moved my right hand to my ear, brought it down, and my hand was covered with blood," he said, adding that he knew immediately that he was under attack.
"There was blood pouring everywhere, and yet, in a certain way I felt very safe, because I had God on my side,” Trump said, as he continued to describe the attack.
Trump, who first shared his reaction to the attack on Truth Social, stated that the experience was "too painful to tell" and he would not recount the events again.
The shooter, a 20-year-old nursing aide named Thomas Matthew Crooks, was shot dead by Secret Service snipers.
The motive behind the attack remains unknown.
