Former President Donald Trump revealed what President Joe Biden said to him during their private phone call that took place after he survived an assassination attempt on July 13.
“He said, ‘You’re lucky you turned to the right,’” Trump told FOX News host Jesse Watters while describing the "nice conversation" in an interview alongside running mate J.D. Vance that aired Monday (July 22) night.
The former president also claimed that he refused to be carried off on a stretcher after a bullet grazed his ear during the rally in Butler, Pennsylvania.
“They wanted to put me on a stretcher,” Trump said. “They had a stretcher, and they wanted to put me on a stretcher. And I said, ‘I’m not going on a stretcher.’”
The former president said he "just felt it was his ear" which led to a "little argument" while secret service agents, who initially believed he was hit in the abdomen, were "lying on top of me."
“I said, ‘I’m telling you, I’m OK. I’m fine. I’m going to get up. I want to get up. I’m not going to be taken out on a stretcher,’” Trump said.
Trump, 78, was seen yelling "fight" to his supporters while being evacuated from the rally by Secret Service members. One spectator, identified as Corey Comperatore, 50, was killed during the incident while two others, David Dutch, 57, of New Kensington, and James Copenhaver, 74, were initially critically wounded but have since been upgraded to stable condition.
Police identified Thomas Matthew Crooks, 20, as the shooter late Saturday night. Secret Service snipers immediately took out Crooks, who was found with an AR-style semi-automatic assault rifle and wearing a shirt for the popular gun YouTube channel Demolition Ranch, after he opened fire. Crooks is reported to have donated $15 to the liberal ActBlue political action committee on the day of President Biden's inauguration in January 2021, but later registered to vote as a Republican upon turning 18 in September 2021, according to records obtained and shared by the Intercept.
Trump officially accepted the Republican presidential nomination during the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Thursday (July 18) night. Biden announced his decision to end his re-election campaign in a post shared on his social media accounts Sunday (July 21).