Monday marks the two-year anniversary of the assassination attempt on Donald Trump at an outdoor campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, on July 13, 2024. The then-former president was just days away from formally becoming the Republican presidential nominee, marking an historic comeback after the stolen 2020 presidential election denied him a second consecutive term.
President Trump was wounded in the attack by Thomas Crooks, 20, who fired eight rifle shots at Trump from a nearby rooftop, winging Trump in his right ear, but also hitting three Trump supporters in the stands behind Trump. Corey Comperatore, 50, was killed protecting his family from the gunshots; David Dutch, 57, and James Copenhaver, 74, were both seriously wounded but survived after long hospital stays.
Conspiracy theories have been promoted about the Butler assassination attempt, with some accusing Trump of staging the attack, while others accuse him of faking or exaggerating the bullet wound to his right ear.
The wound to the ear has not been seen since Trump was photographed with blood pouring from it on Saturday, July 13, 2024.
Surrounded by members of the Secret Service, @realDonaldTrump pumps his fist with blood on his face, during a rally in Butler, PA. pic.twitter.com/8OuaXWlr5n
— Doug Mills (@dougmillsnyt) July 13, 2024
When Trump appeared at the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, the following Monday, a large white bandage had been affixed to his ear.
Absolute boss.
Less than 72 hours after he survived an assassination attempt, Trump walks into the RNC with a bandaged ear. pic.twitter.com/lRFtPkRuxg
— Elizabeth Weibel (@elfaddis) July 16, 2024
On Saturday, July 20, 2024, Trump held an indoor rally in Grand Rapids, Michigan. The large white bandage had been replaced with a tan bandage covering the upper ear.
At some point during Trump’s remarks, the bandage came apart, offering a revealing glimpse of the wound.
Photos taken by The Gateway Pundit contributor Kristinn Taylor that have not been previously published show that a piece of the top of Trump’s right ear, about two centimeters across, was missing. The exposed wound appeared clean, with no bleeding or signs of infection.
A week later, Trump was seen without a bandage on his ear.
Obama White House photographer Pete Souza posted an AP photo of Trump two weeks after the attempt with a caption questioning whether Trump had been wounded. “AP photo this morning. Look closely at his ear that was “hit” by a bullet from a AR-15 rifle.” Souza deleted his X account after posting:
Renowned photojournalist and White House photographer “no longer exists” on Twitter after posting an AP picture of Donald Trump pic.twitter.com/AfHqoZKrue
— David Leavitt
(@DavidLeavitt) July 28, 2024
Olivia Nuzzi, then reporting for New York magazine, wrote (in overwrought prose) about her interview with Trump at Mar-a-Lago in August 2024, in which she asked to examine Trump’s ear (excerpt):
Pink. An ovular rose. Big and smooth. A complex commonplace instrument. And, as far as these things go, a rather nice one. Isolated from the head and all that roils therein, and to which it is, famously and miraculously, still attached, you have to admit, if you can: It is beautiful. In Palm Beach, sunlight streamed through the window to find its blood vessels, setting the whole device aglow. Auris Divina, Divine Ear, protector of The Donald, immaculate cartilage shield, almighty piece of flesh.
Donald Trump raised his right hand and grabbed hold of it. He bent it backward and forward. I asked if I could take a closer look. These days, the former president and current triple threat — convicted felon, Republican presidential nominee, and recent survivor of an assassination attempt — comes from a place of “yes.” He waved me over to where he sat on this August afternoon, in a low-to-the-ground chair upholstered in cream brocade fabric in the grand living room at Mar-a-Lago.
“Let’s see,” he said. He tapped the highest point of the helix. “It’s a railroad track.” He tapped it again. “They didn’t need a stitch,” he said. “You know, it’s funny. Usually, something like that would be considered a surreal experience, where you sort of don’t realize it, and yet there was no surrealism in this case. I felt immediately that I got hit by a bullet. I also knew it was my ear. It’s just a little bit over here — ” He used his hand to wiggle the ear. “Right next to — ” He gestured at the side of his head, at his brain, and raised his eyebrows. “It’s amazing.” He shook his head in disbelief. “And the ear, as you know, is a big bleeder.”
It did not feel surreal. Trump kept mentioning that. How unexpected it was, the matter-of-fact way in which he managed to process the attack as it unfolded. But on July 13 in Butler, Pennsylvania, he was tethered to the Earth as if by cosmic cord. He could not be pulled into the void. He was so clear about each moment of that afternoon. At Butler Memorial Hospital, he said, he asked the doctor, “ ‘Why is there so much blood?’” This was due to the vascular properties of cartilage, the doctor told him. “These are the things you learn through assassination attempts.” He laughed. “Okay, can you believe it?”
He can never fully see his own ear. He can never fully see himself as others do. I inched closer and narrowed my eyes. The particular spot that he identified with his tap was pristine. I scanned carefully the rest of the terrain. It looked normal and incredible and fine…
Recent articles in Wired and Talking Points Memo debunk the Butler conspiracy theories, but still raise doubts about the wound to Trump’s ear.
Take for example Trump’s ear. Many people who believe the Butler assassination was staged claim that Trump’s right ear, which was struck in the assassination attempt, shows little sign of damage and is evidence that he wasn’t really shot in the first place.
However, the reality is that while images taken on the day clearly show some damage to Trump’s ear, the extent of the injury remains unknown. The medical records from the Butler Memorial Hospital, where Trump was initially treated, were never made public. Two weeks after the shooting, Trump was seen in public without a bandage and showing little to no damage to the ear, which to some was evidence that Trump was at least lying about the extent of his injuries.
Trump insisted at the time that he was hit with a bullet. While then-FBI director Christopher Wray speculated that it could have been “shrapnel that hit his ear,” the agency confirmed in a statement a few days later that Trump was hit with a bullet, though it could have been just a fragment. Trump’s former physician Ronny Jackson wrote that the president had suffered a 2-centimeter-wide gunshot wound in the right ear from a high-powered rifle “that extended down to the cartilaginous surface of the ear” but added that “no sutures were required.”
If there is a legitimate debate to be had regarding Butler, it involves the extent of Trump’s injuries, and whether they were exaggerated. Many of the descriptions of the wounding of Trump’s ear are not supported by photographic evidence or medical records, since the Trump campaign didn’t release any. And they strain credulity for what kind of damage a human ear can sustain and still be functional. Trump’s campaign claimed at the time that his ear wound was two centimeters wide, which doesn’t appear consistent with Trump’s ear now. There was even some early speculation that Trump wasn’t hit by a bullet at all, but by fragments of an object on stage. Something had to explain the discrepancy.
Statement by Rep. Ronny Jackson (R-TX), former White House physician to President Trump in his first term, released July 20, 2024:
As the former appointed Physician to the President for President Donald J. Trump, I was naturally very concerned, as was the entire world, about his wellbeing after the assassination attempt on his life. As such, I met him in Bedminster, New Jersey, late that evening to personally check on him, and offer my assistance in any way possible.
I have been with President Trump since that time, and I have evaluated and treated his wound daily. He is doing well. As reported and witnessed by the entire world, he sustained a gunshot wound to the right ear from a highpowered rifle used by the would be assassin.
The bullet passed, coming less than a quarter of an inch from entering his head, and struck the top of his right ear. The bullet track produced a 2 cm wide wound that extended down to the cartilaginous surface of the ear. There was initially significant bleeding, followed by marked swelling of the entire upper ear. The swelling has since resolved, and the wound is beginning to granulate and heal properly. Based on the highly vascular nature of the ear, there is still intermittent bleeding requiring a dressing to be in place. Given the broad and blunt nature of the wound itself, no sutures were required.
The President was initially treated by the medical staff at Butler Memorial Hospital in Butler, Pennsylvania, who did an excellent job of evaluating him and treating his wound. I want to thank them for their outstanding care. They provided a thorough evaluation for additional injuries that included a CT of his head. He will have further evaluations, including a comprehensive hearing exam, as needed. He will follow up with his primary care physician, as directed by the doctors that initially evaluated him.
In summary, former President Trump is doing well, and he is recovering as expected from the gunshot wound sustained last Saturday afternoon. I am extremely thankful his life was spared. It is an absolute miracle he wasn’t killed.
I am heading to the rally in Grand Rapids, Michigan with President Trump now, and I will remain at his side throughout the weekend to provide any medical assistance he needs. I plan to return to Washington, DC on Monday, and then I will return home to Amarillo, Texas at the conclusion of the week.
Respectfully,
Ronny L. Jackson
Former Physician to the President
The post TGP Exclusive: New Photos of Trump’s Wounded Ear One Week After Butler Assassination Attempt appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.