Former President Donald Trump recalled his terrifying near-death experience when a deranged gunman attempted to assassinate him at a Pennsylvania rally in his speech to accept the 2024 GOP nomination Thursday — including hearing the sound of the bullet “whizzing.”
“I’ll tell you what exactly happened, and you’ll never hear it from me a second time, because it’s actually too painful to tell,” the 45th president said.
“It was a warm, beautiful day, early evening, township in the great Pennsylvania,” he continued.
“Music was loudly playing, and the campaigning was doing really well. I went to the stage, and the crowd was cheering wildly. Everybody was happy. I began speaking very strongly, powerfully and happily — because I was discussing the great job my administration did on immigration at the southern border.”
The GOP nominee then described the moment he turned his head — which saved his life.
“Behind me and to the right was a large screen that was displaying a chart of border crossings under my leadership,” he recalled.
“The numbers were absolutely amazing. In order to see the chart, I started to turn to my right and was ready to begin to turn a little bit further — which I’m very lucky I didn’t do — when I heard a loud whizzing sound and felt something hit me really, really hard on my right ear.
“I said to myself, ‘Wow, What was that? It can only be a bullet.’”
Trump described seeing “blood all over the place.”
“The amazing thing is that prior to the shot, if I had not moved my head at that very last instant, the assassin’s bullet would have perfectly hit its mark, and I would not be here tonight,” he said.
Thomas Matthew Crooks, 20, nearly assassinated the 78-year-old president at a campaign rally in Pennsylvania on July 13, firing eight shots down onto the Butler Farm Show grounds that killed one and wounded two others.
The former president said many in the crowd thought he was dead — which prompted him to stand up and pump his fist in the air.
“The crowd was confused, because they thought I was dead, and there was great, great sorrow. I could see that on their faces as I looked at they didn’t know I was looking out. They thought it was over, but I could see it. I wanted to do something to let them know I was okay,” he said.
“Once my clenched fist went up — and it was high into the air — you’ve all seen that the crowd realized I was okay, and [they] roared with pride for our country like no crowd I have ever heard before.”
Trump also paid tribute to Corey Comperatore, the supporter who was murdered Saturday.
Comperatore’s widow, Helen Comperatore, previously told The Post that her husband’s last words were “get down!” as he shielded his family from the gunfire.
Trump’s right ear was struck by a bullet — and he has wrapped it in a white bandage for the duration of the RNC.
Trump insiders and other attendees at the week-long party event in Milwaukee have remarked to The Post that the former president’s near-death experience has marked him, noting his stoic demeanor on the convention floor, softened rhetoric and calls for unity this week post-assassination attempt.