BUTLER, PENNSYLVANIA — Donald Trump was shot in the ear during a Saturday campaign rally, streaking the Republican presidential candidate’s blood across his face and prompting his security agents to swarm him, before he emerged and pumped his fist in the air, appearing to mouth the words “Fight! Fight! Fight!”
The shooter was dead, one rally attendee was killed and two other spectators were injured, the Secret Service said in a statement.
The incident was being investigated as an assassination attempt, a source told Reuters.
Trump, 78, had just started his speech when the shots rang out.
He grabbed his right ear with his right hand, then brought his hand down to look at it before dropping to his knees behind the podium before Secret Service agents swarmed and covered him.
He emerged about a minute later, his red “Make America Great Again” hat knocked off, and could be heard saying “wait, wait,” before agents ushered him into a vehicle.
“I was shot with a bullet that pierced the upper part of my right ear,” Trump said on his Truth Social platform following the shooting in Butler, Pennsylvania, about 30 miles (50 km) north of Pittsburgh. “Much bleeding took place.”
The shooter’s identity and motive were not immediately clear. Leading Republicans and Democrats quickly condemned the violence.
The Trump campaign said he was “doing well.” Bloomberg reported he had been released from the hospital.
The shooting occurred less than four months before the Nov. 5 election, when Trump faces an election rematch with Democratic President Joe Biden.
Biden said in a statement: “There’s no place for this kind of violence in America. We must unite as one nation to condemn it.”
Biden spoke with Trump following the shooting, a White House official said.
Republican U.S. Representative Ronny Jackson of Texas told Fox News his nephew had been wounded at the rally.
The shooting raised immediate questions about security failures by the Secret Service, which provides former presidents including Trump with lifetime protection.
The shots appeared to come from outside the area secured by the Secret Service, the agency said. The FBI said it had taken the lead in investigating the attack. — (Reuters)