Donald Trump, gracious and defiant alike, told The Post on Sunday: “I’m supposed to be dead,” in reviewing the chilling instant when a would-be assassin took aim at him during a campaign rally Saturday night.
During an interview on his private plane, traveling to Milwaukee for the GOP National Convention last month, Trump outlined what he described as “a very surreal experience” which almost led him to death.
“The doctor at the hospital said he never saw anything like this, he called it a miracle,” said Trump, who was sporting a loose, large white bandage that covered his right ear. His staff insisted that no photos be taken.
“I’m not supposed to be here, I’m supposed to be dead,” Trump said. “I’m supposed to be dead.”
The Secret Service have since pointed fingers at local police and said it was their duty to secure the sites outside of Trump’s rally in Pennsylvania.
Immediately prior to the gunfire, a local police officer was face-to-face with the gunman on an adjacent roof but lost him before he could stop him. He said that if he had not moved his head slightly to the right as a bullet approached, what doctors believe was already shaping up to be a fatal shot instead tore through skin and cartilage, leaving him hearing impaired but alive with just some portions of his ear missing and splattered blood on forehead and cheek.
Even as Secret Service agents helped him off the stage, Trump wanted to keep talking with fans. But the agents told him it was unsafe and they needed to get him to a hospital.
He was struck by the agents who sprinted in like “linebackers” once the gunfire started. Trump opened up the top button of his white shirt and pulled aside his cuff to reveal a big bruise on his right forearm.
“The agents hit me so hard that my shoes fell off, and my shoes are tight,” he said with a smile.
Trump lauded Secret Service personnel for their “heroic actions” in killing the shooter, who was perched on a roof about 130 yards to the stage where Trump was speaking.
“They did a fantastic job,” he added. “It’s surreal for all of us.”
“By luck or by God, many people are saying it’s by God I’m still here,” he said.
The shooter has now been identified as Thomas Matthew Crooks, age 20.
Trump spent much of the flight talking with GOP Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC) also marveled at the assassin attempt, saying “He feels like he has a new lease on life.”
Sadly, the shooter did manage to cause one casualty, family man Corey Comperatore. He died protecting his wife and children.
