New Photos Show Trump’s Ear Wound One Week After Butler Shooting
Monday marks two years since the assassination attempt against Donald Trump at his outdoor rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, on July 13, 2024.
Trump, then the former president and soon-to-be Republican nominee, was speaking to supporters when 20-year-old Thomas Crooks opened fire from a nearby rooftop. Eight rifle shots were fired, according to reports from the time.
One round struck Trump’s right ear. Three people in the crowd behind him were also hit. Corey Comperatore, 50, was killed while protecting his family. David Dutch, 57, and James Copenhaver, 74, were seriously wounded and later survived after long hospital stays.
The most famous image from that day showed Trump surrounded by Secret Service agents, blood on his face, raising his fist as agents moved him off the stage. It became one of the defining images of the 2024 campaign.
https://x.com/dougmillsnyt/status/1812270345325519266?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
But the injury itself quickly became a target for online speculation. Some critics pushed claims that the attack was staged. Others suggested Trump had exaggerated the wound to his ear. Those claims spread even as video, photos, witness accounts, and the deaths and injuries from the shooting made clear the attack was real and deadly.
When Trump arrived at the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee two days later, he wore a large white bandage over his right ear. The moment drew loud applause from the crowd and became another major visual from that week.
https://x.com/elfaddis/status/1813040583293780208?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
By Saturday, July 20, 2024, Trump was back onstage for an indoor rally in Grand Rapids, Michigan. The large white bandage was gone. In its place was a smaller tan bandage over the upper part of his right ear.
During the rally, that bandage reportedly came loose, giving photographers a brief look at the injury underneath.
Newly published photos taken by The Gateway Pundit contributor Kristinn Taylor show what the outlet describes as a missing section near the top of Trump’s right ear, roughly two centimeters across. The wound appeared clean in the photos, with no visible bleeding or signs of infection, according to the outlet’s description.
About a week later, Trump was seen in public without a bandage. That fueled more chatter from skeptics, including former Obama White House photographer Pete Souza.
Souza posted an Associated Press photo of Trump and wrote, “AP photo this morning. Look closely at his ear that was “hit” by a bullet from a AR-15 rifle.” He later deleted his X account after the post drew backlash.
https://x.com/DavidLeavitt/status/1817396176376774871?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
Trump later discussed the injury during an August 2024 interview with Olivia Nuzzi, then writing for New York magazine. Nuzzi asked to inspect his ear at Mar-a-Lago.
According to her account, Trump pointed to the top of the helix and said, “It’s a railroad track.” He added, “They didn’t need a stitch.”
He also described the moment he was hit, saying, “You know, it’s funny. Usually, something like that would be considered a surreal experience, where you sort of don’t realize it, and yet there was no surrealism in this case. I felt immediately that I got hit by a bullet. I also knew it was my ear.”
The Butler attack remains one of the darkest moments in modern campaign history. A former president and major-party nominee came within inches of death. One supporter was killed. Two others were badly wounded.
Two years later, the newly surfaced photos add another piece to the record of what happened after the shooting, especially for those who questioned the visible injury after Trump stopped wearing the bandage.