Former US President Donald Trump responded strongly on Friday to FBI Director Christopher Wray’s suggestion that shrapnel might have caused his injury.
Trump refuted this by posting a letter from his former doctor, Ronny Jackson, now a Republican congressman from Texas—on his social media platform, Truth Social. Jackson’s letter stated, “Absolutely no evidence that it was anything other than a bullet.”
During a hearing on Wednesday, Wray expressed uncertainty to US lawmakers about the nature of the object that wounded Trump, mentioning it could have been a bullet or shrapnel. This incident occurred on July 13 in Pennsylvania at a campaign rally where Trump sustained an injury to his right ear, an event the FBI has classified as an assassination attempt.
The attack seriously injured two rally attendees and killed a 50-year-old Pennsylvania firefighter, while a US Secret Service sniper neutralized the assailant.
Since the incident, Trump has woven the attack into his campaign narrative, highlighting his experience in speeches, such as one in Michigan where he claimed to have “taken a bullet for democracy.” At the Republican National Convention, where he received the party’s presidential nomination, Trump attributed his survival during the attack to divine intervention.
Support for Trump at his rallies is evident, with many supporters wearing bandages on their right ears as a sign of solidarity.
On Thursday, Trump directly countered Wray’s comments and accused him of political bias, declaring, “It was, unfortunately, a bullet that hit my ear and hit it hard. There was no glass, there was no shrapnel.”
A New York Times investigation released Friday supports Trump’s assertion. Their analysis, which included bullet trajectories, footage, photos, and audio, strongly suggests that a bullet grazed Trump as the first of eight shots fired.
While Trump’s campaign has not released any medical reports from his current physician, it continues to reference Jackson despite his controversial past. A 2021 US Defense Department investigation found Jackson guilty of professional misconduct, leading to his demotion in the US Navy.
