Former President Donald Trump credited an immigration chart he was looking at for saving his life during Saturday’s assassination attempt, his former White House doctor told The New York Times Sunday.
Trump told Texas GOP Rep. and former White House doctor Ronny Jackson that if he had not turned his head slightly to look over and point at a chart featuring statistics on illegal immigration into the U.S., the bullet that grazed his ear would’ve hit his head more directly and killed him, according to the NYT. The reflection comes after a would-be assassin climbed atop a nearby roof and fired multiple rounds at the president during a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, before being neutralized by U.S. Secret Service agents.
“He goes, ‘The border patrol saved my life,’” Jackson recounted the president saying in an interview with the NYT. “‘I was going over that border patrol chart.’ He said, ‘If I hadn’t pointed at that chart and turned my head to look at it, that bullet would have hit me right in the head.’”
The immigration chart in reference features the enormous rise in illegal immigration under the Biden administration, according to the NYT. Since fiscal year 2021, more than seven million illegal migrant encounters have been made by Border Patrol agents, according to the latest Customs and Border Protection data.
Jackson said his nephew was among those who were injured, according to a statement on X.
“My nephew was injured at the Trump rally in Butler, Pennsylvania,” the former White House doctor said. “Thankfully his injury was not serious and he is doing well.”
“My family was sitting in the front, near where the President was speaking. They heard shots ringing out — my nephew then realized he had blood on his neck and something had grazed and cut his neck,” Jackson continued, noting that he was treated at a medical tent afterward.
The FBI has identified the shooter as 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks of Bethel Parks, Pennsylvania, a town roughly 35 miles south of where the campaign rally was held.
An AR-15-type semiautomatic rifle was reportedly recovered next to Crooks’ body, and explosive devices were located in the vehicle he had driven, according to law enforcement officials. The rifle was reportedly purchased by the would-be assailant’s father.
A GoFundMe campaign sanctioned by Trump for the victims of the shooting has so far raised more than $3 million, according to the fundraising website.
Jason Hopkins writes for the Daily Caller News Foundation.