Trump is certainly feeling very lucky to be alive after the assassin’s bullet merely grazed his ear in a shooting that some experts say could have been fatal had he not moved his head slightly at the exact moment the bullet was about to strike.
At the Republican National Convention in Wisconsin, Trump Jr. said that he thinks it has mellowed him somewhat, although he expects him to remain tough when it comes to the issues closest to his heart.
He stated: “You know, I think it lasts. There are events that change you for a couple minutes and there’s events that change you permanently.”
He added: "Now again, it’s Trump so [he’s] still going to be reactionary. [Trump will] always be a fighter, that’s never gonna change, but he’s gonna do, I think, his best to moderate that where it needs to be.”
“He’s going to be tough when he has to be,” he went on to say. “We’ve seen that, he’s never gonna change. But I think there will be something. I think these are momentous occasions that change people permanently.”
The former president told the New York Post over the weekend that he had originally composed “an extremely tough speech… all about the corrupt, horrible administration” to deliver at the Republican National Convention this week. However, the assassination attempt inspired him to discard it in favor of something that would “unite our country.”
Trump, Jr. added that he helped his father with the original version of the speech and characterized it as “hot,” which he felt was needed at the time.
“But again, a lot changes once you’ve got shot in the face,” Trump Jr. added.
The new speech is expected to be delivered when the former president addresses the convention on Thursday.
Trump Jr. also explained how his father’s defiant reaction to the shooting demonstrated that he is the exact type of leader America needs right now, at a time when a lot of people like to talk up their strengths, but few are willing to take action.
“Everyone these days is a tough guy on the internet or on a keyboard, but when you've actually been shot, and you can get up, defiant, fist in the air, telling people to stay in the game, to fight — That’s exactly the kind of leadership we need. That's actually a man who has been tested," he said.
The iconic photo of Trump raising his fist to the crowd of supporters just after the shooting with blood still dripping down his face and an American flag flying over his head has been shown by media around the world in recent days, and an unnamed photo editor working for a “major news outlet” has warned the media that it’s “dangerous” to keep showing it, calling it “free PR” for the Trump campaign.
It makes sense that liberals would be having a fit about this. While the Trump campaign has photos depicting a strong leader who immediately bounced back from chaos with authority and vigor, all they have are images of a confused and weak man with a blank look on his face.
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