Trump says he ‘felt the bullet ripping through my skin’ in first statement since assassination attempt

Former President Donald Trump says he “felt the bullet ripping through [his] skin” during an assassination attempt at a campaign rally in Pennsylvania.

“I was shot with a bullet that pierced the upper part of my right ear,” the 78-year-old presumptive Republican presidential nominee said in his first statement after being rushed to a local hospital.

“I knew immediately that something was wrong in that I heard a whizzing sound, shots, and immediately felt the bullet ripping through the skin. Much bleeding took place, so I realized then what was happening.”

Trump issued the statement on his Truth Social page amid conflicting initial reports, including reporting that he may have been struck by glass rather than a bullet.

“I want to thank The United States Secret Service, and all of Law Enforcement, for their rapid response on the shooting that just took place in Butler, Pennsylvania,” Trump wrote

“Most importantly, I want to extend my condolences to the family of the person at the Rally who was killed, and also to the family of another person that was badly injured. It is incredible that such an act can take place in our country.”

Trump wrote that “[n]othing is know at this time about the shooter, who is now dead.”

The ex-president fell on stage after the sound of gunshots at the rally as Secret Service rushed to the stage — before giving a defiant fist-pump as blood ran down his face, shouting to his thousands of supporters, “Fight! Fight! Fight!”

President Biden called the attack “sick” in remarks Saturday night and said that he had tried to call his general-election challenger at the hospital — after the White House took heat for merely calling the shooting an “incident” in initial press statements.