Trump blasts FBI director for questioning if he was struck by bullet during assassination bid

Donald Trump has slammed the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Director Christopher Wray after the latter raised doubts about whether the former United States president was hit by a bullet during the assassination attempt, earlier this month.

Trump took to his Truth Social account and posted a lengthy message where he took shots at Wray as well as President Joe Biden over his deteriorating cognitive abilities.

“FBI Director Christopher Wray told Congress yesterday that he wasn’t sure if I was hit by shrapnel, glass, or a bullet (the FBI never even checked!), but he was sure that Crooked Joe Biden was physically and cognitively ‘uneventful’ – Wrong!” Trump wrote on the social media platform.

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The former presidentclaims he was hit by a bullet that grazed the upper portion of his right ear after he moved his head just in time to avoid getting shot in the head.

"No, it was, unfortunately, a bullet that hit my ear, and hit it hard. There was no glass, there was no shrapnel. The hospital called it a 'bullet wound to the ear,'and that is what it was. No wonder the once storied FBI has lost the confidence of America!"

Watch |US Secret Service director grilled by lawmakers on Trump assassination attempt

What did Wray claim?

The FBI director raised suspicions over the validity of Trump's claims during the testimony in front of the House Oversight Committee on Wednesday (Jul 24).

"With respect to former president Trump, there’s some question about whether it was a bullet or shrapnel that hit his ear," Wray told RepresentativeJim Jordan during the testimony.

“As I sit here right now, I don’t know whether that bullet… in addition to causing the grazing, could have landed somewhere else," he added.

Notably, 20-year-old gunman, Thomas Crooks, had fired a volley of eight rounds towards the former US president using an AR-15 rifle while he was addressing the rally in an open field.

It was only after one of the bullets grazed Trump and killed a rallygoer that the Secret Service was able to neutralise Crooks.

The FBI chiefsaid his team had accounted for all the shots in the cartridges, including the ones that killed a rallygoer and wounded two others. Wray highlighted that Crooks' gun had a collapsible stock that made it easy to hide the gun.

(With inputs from agencies)