It’s being called the top tilt that spared the lifetime of former President Donald Trump. Others say it was divine intervention.
Trump was speaking at a rally Saturday in Butler, PA, when a gunman perched on a rooftop pointed a high-powered rifle at Trump, attempting to finish the lifetime of the presumptive Republican nominee. However, just before the bullet reached its mark, Trump tilted his head barely to the suitable, causing the bullet to graze his right ear but causing no further damage, video of the incident shows. The bullet was lower than an inch from landing in his brain.
A picture from New York Times photographer Doug Mills captured the bullet mid-flight, a split-second after it hit Trump. The former president immediately grabbed his ear, blood running down his face. He survived.
A remarkable photo captured by my former White House Press Corps colleague Doug Mills.
Zoom in right above President Trump’s shoulder and also you’ll see a bullet flying within the air to the suitable of President Trump’s head following an attempted assassination. pic.twitter.com/FqmLBCytoW
— Haraz N. Ghanbari (@HarazGhanbari) July 14, 2024
- “If you might be a believer, you realize that God spared Donald Trump for a reason,” New York Post journalist Miranda Devine wrote.
- “God protected President Trump,” U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) wrote.
- Trump “was half an inch away from losing his life,” former Secret Service agent Tim Miller told Fox News.
- “I thank God that former President @realDonaldTrump is alive,” evangelist Franklin Graham wrote.
The gunman was shot and killed by law enforcement, presumably by Secret Service agents. An attendee on the rally also was killed by the attempted assassin’s gunfire.
It was the primary assassination attempt on a president or former president since 1981 when Ronald Reagan was shot but survived. There were two attempts on the lifetime of Gerald Ford while he was in office within the Seventies, although he was not shot. The last assassination attempt on a serious presidential candidate was in 1968 when Democrat Robert F. Kennedy — the brother of former President John F. Kennedy — was shot and killed. John F. Kennedy was assassinated in 1963 while in office.
Trump’s last-second head tilt can have spared his life and prevented the bullet from landing in his brain.
“Life sometimes hangs within the balance of a head tilt,” filmmaker Robby Starbuck wrote. “Without President Trump tilting his head on the last second, he’d be dead straight away. Feels like divine intervention truthfully.”
“Again, Trump’s head is barely moved to the suitable and the bullet goes through his temple,” New York Post columnist John Podhoretz wrote.
Dan Patrick, the lieutenant governor of Texas, also saw divine intervention. Patrick said he texted Trump: “By the slightest turn of your head in a mere microsecond or the shield of a teleprompter, your life was spared by the Grace of a Merciful and Holy God. I shared with you not way back, on our flight to Houston, that God has had his hand on you because you first ran for President. That I think.
“No man could survive all you’ve gotten been through without the Grace of God upon you,” Patrick’s text to Trump read. “The Bible verse ‘And who knows but that you’ve gotten come to your royal position for such a time as this?’ appears within the book of Esther 4:14. Praise God your life was spared ‘For such a time as this.’”
Also see: Trump Survives Assassination Attempt at PA Rally
Related Resource: Feeling Overwhelmed by the Stress of the Political Season?
In this episode of Breathe: The Stress Less Podcast, Bonnie explores practical ways to seek out peace and lower anxiety through the facility of prayer. Learn to breathe in God’s loving word of affirmation and breathe out your stress with biblically-based soul-care techniques. Tune into this episode to find how you possibly can experience God’s peace and joy amidst real-life challenges and political turmoil.
Photo credit: ©GettyImages/Anna Moneymaker / Staff
Michael Foust has covered the intersection of religion and news for 20 years. His stories have appeared in Baptist Press, Christianity Today, The Christian Post, the Leaf-Chronicle, the Toronto Star and the Knoxville News-Sentinel.
