Former first lady Melania Trump was watching when would-be assassin Thomas Matthew Crooks opened fire in Butler, Pa., earlier this month, former President Trump revealed Monday.
During an exclusive interview with "The Ingraham Angle," host Laura Ingraham asked Trump about Melania's reaction to the incident unfolding live on TV.
"She can't really even talk about it. Which is okay, because that means she likes me or she loves me," he said.
"When I went down, she thought the worst had happened because I went down, and I grabbed my [ear] and I saw my hand was loaded up with blood. You see it in slow motion, instant replay," he continued shortly after.
The former president and current Republican nominee was nearly assassinated July 13 when 20-year-old Crooks opened fire at a campaign rally. The attack injured Trump and attendees and killed firefighter Corey Comperatore, who shielded his family from gunfire.
Donald Trump gestures while surrounded by U.S. Secret Service agents Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump gestures while surrounded by U.S. Secret Service agents as he is helped off the stage at a campaign rally in Butler, Pa., Saturday, July 13, 2024. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)
Security breakdowns leading up to the event have come under intense bipartisan scrutiny in the weeks since the incident. Congress grilled then-Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle before she ultimately stepped down from her role.
Trump, mentioning Comperatore during his talk with Ingraham, said that getting to the bottom of what happened is "very important."