A suggestion by the FBI director that shrapnel, not a bullet, could have caused the injury to Donald Trump's right ear during an assassination attempt in Butler, Pennsylvania, has been disputed by the Republican presidential candidate's former White House doctor.
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The narrative that a bullet ripped through Trump's ear and that he escaped death by centimetres has become a major element of his White House campaign.
Many of his supporters say the fact he survived was divine intervention and Trump mentions his brush with death in his speeches.
"I took a bullet for democracy," Trump told supporters at a rally in Grand Rapids, Michigan, on July 20.
Ronny Jackson, Trump's doctor when he was in the White House, released a statement a day after Trump criticised FBI Director Christopher Wray for telling US lawmakers it was not clear whether Trump was hit by a bullet or shrapnel or glass.
"There is absolutely no evidence that it was anything other than a bullet," wrote Jackson, a close Trump ally.
"Director Wray is wrong and inappropriate to suggest anything else."
On Friday evening, several hours after Jackson's statement, the FBI said in a statement: "What struck former President Trump in the ear was a bullet, whether whole or fragmented into smaller pieces, fired from the deceased subject's rifle."
Jackson, who said he served as a battlefield medic in Iraq and had treated many gunshot wounds in his career, has been monitoring Trump's wounded ear since the assassination attempt.
On Thursday, Trump took to his Truth Social social media account to blast Wray.
"No, it was, unfortunately, a bullet that hit my ear, and hit it hard," Trump wrote.
"There was no glass, there was no shrapnel.
"No wonder the once-storied FBI has lost the confidence of America."
Jason Miller, a Trump campaign spokesman, told Reuters any claims Trump was hit by something other than a bullet were "conspiracy bulls***".
Australian Associated Press
