Over the weekend, ex-President and 2024 Republican frontrunner Donald Trump was the target of what has now been formally dubbed an assassination attempt, after shots rang out at his Pennsylvania rally Saturday evening.
Ultimately, the former president was left shaken, but largely unharmed, suffering only a minor nick to the top of his right ear by an AR-15 bullet, fired from a nearby roof by the gunman who has since been identified as 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks.
Crooks was almost immediately “neutralized” by armed forces at the rally and his death was confirmed by Butler County District Attorney Richard A Goldinger.
We firmly and wholeheartedly assert that political violence of any kind has no place in the United States of America and we truly are glad that the former president is safe.
However, as more and more information begins to come to light surrounding Saturday’s violent attack, more and more questions and confusion regarding the matter are coming to the surface as well — and critics are beginning to rightfully demand some answers as we seem to be getting the largest majority of information from social media while some people feel that the former president and his campaign are showing a resounding lack of transparency.
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Admittedly, things were understandably rowdy and confusing in the midst and the direct aftermath of the attack. As such, we almost instantly got some conflicting reports as to what actually injured Donald Trump and left his face splattered in blood.
In the direct aftermath of the attack, multiple reports cited sources who claimed that Donald was not, in fact, shot at all, but rather his ear was cut by a piece of glass that shattered off a nearby teleprompter. However, Trump himself was quick to speak out in a post on his Truth Social platform, where he personally and very pointedly stated that his ear was injured by a bullet that grazed him.
On Saturday, journalist Steven Beschloss noted, “Trump has posted that his ear was pierced by a bullet, but the sad fact is that he’s an unreliable source. News organizations need to wait for more credible confirmation of what happened.”
Trump has posted that his ear was pierced by a bullet, but the sad fact is that he’s an unreliable source. News organizations need to wait for more credible confirmation of what happened.
— Steven Beschloss (@StevenBeschloss) July 14, 2024
On Monday, Beschloss followed up, writing, “Why haven’t we heard from the medical staff or others confirming whether Trump was or wasn’t hit by a bullet? If indeed Trump was cut by a piece of glass, then all the talk that he was shot is factually wrong. This needs to be clarified by the authorities involved, no matter whether it contradicts the Trump narrative.”
If indeed Trump was cut by a piece of glass, then all the talk that he was shot is factually wrong. This needs to be clarified by the authorities involved, no matter whether it contradicts the Trump narrative.
— Steven Beschloss (@StevenBeschloss) July 15, 2024
Now, since Beschloss’ social media posts, the infamous Snopes has sunk its teeth into the glass vs. bullet debate and formally determined that any claims of Trump’s ear being damaged by broken glass are false.
Snopes reports:
The injury Trump sustained during a July 13, 2024, assassination attempt wasn’t caused by a bullet but by broken glass.
There was, however, no evidence to suggest anything other than a bullet caused the wound to Trump’s ear, and these early reports to the contrary have largely been walked back.
The assertion that glass, not a bullet, caused the injury is undercut by the fact that photographs show no damage to the teleprompters allegedly hit to produce the broken glass, by a New York Times photograph capturing a bullet passing by Trump’s ear, and by the fact that Trump later stated, on Truth Social, that a bullet had, in fact, pierced his ear.”
We now know, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that broken glass wasn’t involved here.
Nevertheless, people are still feeling the sting of a lack of transparency and cold, hard answers from Trump and his people — particularly after the Trump Campaign enacted a “communications lockdown” under the threat of “immediate termination” for any Trump Campaign employee found to be speaking to the press, on or off the record, in the wake of the assassination attempt against the former president — with many critics questioning why Donald’s medical records haven’t been released, to put the public’s mind at rest.
Professor of journalism Jeff Jarvis took to social media on Monday to ask, “Why have we not seen a medical report from the hospital that treated Trump? Why have we not seen reporters vocally demanding it?”
And while I’m in rant mode, why have we not seen a medical report from the hospital that treated Trump? Why have we not seen reporters vocally demanding it?
— Jeff (Gutenberg Parenthesis) Jarvis (@jeffjarvis) July 15, 2024
He later went on to add, “Let’s at least try to demand transparency from the campaign and doctors. I don’t see anyone trying.”
Let’s at least try to demand transparency from the campaign and doctors. I don’t see anyone trying.
— Jeff (Gutenberg Parenthesis) Jarvis (@jeffjarvis) July 15, 2024
Also on Monday, the Daily Beast released a report calling the ordeal a “mystery.”
“Trump was taken to Butler Memorial Hospital close to where the attack happened, but no details have been officially released,” the publication reported before going on to note that, “the Trump camp has not disclosed what kinds of tests the former president underwent, how he was treated and for what types of injuries, and if there will be follow-ups. While such details may seem insignificant, the American public tends to expect maximum clarity about presidential health, as the public storm over President Joe Biden’s mental acuity, one led by members of his own party, demonstrated.”
At this point, it isn’t about the glass vs. the bullet. We know and accept that Donald Trump was in fact grazed by a bullet in his right ear, in what was absolutely and indisputably an attempt on his life.
We’re just asking for a little more transparency about all the rest from the man who is quite literally a presidential nominee.
That’s all.
You can find the full fact check from Snopes here.
Featured image via screen capture
