Claim:
The injury Trump sustained during a July 13, 2024, assassination attempt wasn't caused by a bullet but by broken glass.
Rating:
False ( About this rating? )
Immediately following the attempted assassination of former U.S. President Donald Trump on July 13, 2024, skepticism over the notion that Trump had actually been hit by a bullet was fueled by anonymously sourced reports that he was "not struck by a bullet, but hit by glass fragments" from a teleprompter that had been hit by a bullet.
Reporters from both Newsmax and Axios reported on a source making this claim, which was then amplified by other outlets including Raw Story . Some went so far as to call the purported disclosure evidence of a " stunt ."
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:
I was shot with a bullet that pierced the upper part of my right ear. I knew immediately that something was wrong in that I heard a whizzing sound, shots, and immediately felt the bullet ripping through the skin.
Trump's description of his wound matches photographs of his ear after he was hit, prior to being removed from stage. The two circles below, added by Snopes, highlight two areas that appear to show torn skin:
Because there is photographic evidence of a bullet striking Trump, and of the wound created by that bullet, early and imprecisely sourced claims that Trump's injuries stemmed from broken glass are False.
Sources:
Ard, Alexa Juliana. "Photos: Bloodied Trump Rushed off Stage after Assassination Attempt at Pennsylvania Rally." USA TODAY, https://www.usatoday.com/picture-gallery/news/politics/2024/07/13/trump-rushed-off-stage-by-secret-service-at-pennsylvania-rally/74396190007/ . Accessed 15 July 2024.
"Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump)." Truth Social, https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/112782066045321247 . Accessed 15 July 2024.
"Early Claims Trump Hit by Glass Fragments Undermined by New York Times Photos." Rawstory, https://www.rawstory.com/trump-was-hit-by-glass-fragments-not-a-bullet-report/ . Accessed 15 July 2024.
Gold, Michael, et al. "Trump Is Safe After Assassination Attempt; Suspected Gunman Is Dead." The New York Times, 13 July 2024. NYTimes.com, https://www.nytimes.com/live/2024/07/14/us/trump-shooting-news-biden .
Ismay, John. "Photo Appears to Capture Path of Bullet Used in Assassination Attempt." The New York Times, 14 July 2024. NYTimes.com, https://www.nytimes.com/2024/07/14/us/politics/photo-path-trump-assassination.html .
MSN. 14 July 2024, https://web.archive.org/web/20240714205135/https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/crime/not-so-fast-donald-trump-was-hit-by-glass-from-shattered-teleprompter-not-a-bullet-according-to-sources/ar-BB1pVVKz .
"Trump Was Hit by Glass Fragments — Not a Bullet: Report." Rawstory, https://web.archive.org/web/20240714022522/https://www.rawstory.com/trump-was-hit-by-glass-fragments-not-a-bullet-report/. Accessed 15 July 2024.
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