TRUMP SHOT!

ALIVE

UP AND WALKING.

We were watching it live.

Rewatching: I see the bullet grazes the right side of his head above the ear. His hand goes up, almost like you'd swat a fly. He doesn't fall down. He crouches down. Secret Service everywhere. He gets up. We see the blood over his ear. As the Secret Service is about to hustle him out, he says "Wait, wait!," and he turns to crowd, angry look on his face, and shakes his fist hard four 4 times and we can read his lips: "Fight! Fight!"

There was a minute there where we didn't know if he had been killed or was dying, and we were in great distress. The relief when he stood up was insane.

God protected President Trump pic.twitter.com/96UKVdjF3A

— Marco Rubio (@marcorubio) July 13, 2024

AND: I just saw a closeup of the wound and believe I saw a round hole in the upper part of his ear. It looked as though the bullet pierced his ear. BUT: I'm hearing on TV that what hit Trump was shattered glass after a bullet hit the teleprompter.

ALSO: Biden needs to make a statement. All I'm seeing at this point is: "President Biden has received an initial briefing on the incident at former president Donald Trump’s rally, according to the White House. Biden, who was at church in Delaware during the shooting, has returned to his residence" (WaPo).

MORE:

Thinking about this. @TuckerCarlson pic.twitter.com/2gRzjSW0AF

— Dave Smith (@ComicDaveSmith) July 13, 2024

PLUS: I'm seeing a lot of criticism of the press, especially the CNN headlines "Trump speech interrupted by Secret Service" and "Secret Service rushes Trump off stage after he falls at rally." And don't tell me that's a just-the-facts approach, because it's easy to see in the video that Trump did not fall, he crouched. The NYT headline at the moment is: "Trump Rushed Off Stage After Chaos at Rally."

AND: I'm hearing a TV report from police saying the shooter is dead and also that one person in the crowd died.

ALSO: I'm hearing the beginning of conspiracy theories — that it was staged — and the notion that it was Trump's fault — for heating things up or some such thing.

MORE: Biden makes a statement: "I have been briefed on the shooting at Donald Trump’s rally in Pennsylvania. I’m grateful to hear that he’s safe and doing well. I’m praying for him and his family and for all those who were at the rally, as we await further information. Jill and I are grateful to the Secret Service for getting him to safety. There’s no place for this kind of violence in America. We must unite as one nation to condemn it."

AND: Man on TV says he saw the sniper on a rooftop. Saw the rifle. He says he struggled to get the Secret Service to do something about it. He didn't understand why the rooftops overlooking the stage were not secure.

ALSO: "The shooter, identified as a Chinese man, was in a sniper position located hundreds of yards away from Trump’s podium in Butler, Pa. as he spoke to a campaign crowd, sources said" (NY Post). [UPDATE: That sentence in the Post was updated July 13, 2024, 8:51 p.m. ET. Now, instead of "identified as a Chinese man," it says "identified only as a white male." I remember the brief flurry of excitement over the idea of a Chinese man.]

MORE: "'The Biden campaign is pausing all outbound communications and working to pull down our television ads as quickly as possible,' a campaign official said" (The Guardian). Yes, the usual attacks on Trump are likely to reflect badly on Biden.

AND: The post title — "TRUMP SHOT" — was written while Trump was still down. "ALIVE" was written when I saw him stand up. The extra spaces were not intentional, but caused by real agitation.