Bullets don't just fragment in mid-air. If it was a fragment, it had to hit something first.
I've seen the bullet test on Forged In Fire. The bullet is fine until it hits the sword!

His ear wouldn't have looked that good if a fully intact bullet hit it. No question there.........

Grazes don't destroy anything beyond the tiny area the bullet touches. There isn't enough resistance in a grazing wound to transfer much of the bullets kinetic energy.

the Ak fires a small bullet that is designed to tumble when it hits something. It would have to hit something pretty hard to break apart, and there is nothing between that would cause that.

I think people are more wondering about the nature of the contact.

Did a tiny piece of something pierce his ear? Or did something graze against it, a side-swipe? Or the damage due to impact, friction, or heat transfer?

It grazed the ear, it did not go through the ear. The pictures show that clearly.

The pic showed a bullet went near him, and that surely had much to do with the injury, but it doesn't tell us if the whole bullet grazed him or a fragment from it traveling close to it grazed him or whatever.

If they recovered the bullet intact, that would be helpful.

If that pic is enough to know it was a whole bullet or a part of a bullet or displaced mosquito that had the misfortune of being in the path of the bullet and if it was heat or friction or impact that cause the injury, fine.

Clear as mud to me.

.This is crazy. NOTHING is clear about contradicting statements from the FBI. We should ALL know better that to trust anyone from TFG's secret service or personal DR'S. PERIOD!

I rewatched the video and he flinches like a bug bit him, not like someone hit by a bullet full speed.

Early speculation was he was hit by a chunk of glass from the teleprompter, but it makes sense it was a tiny bullet fragment that ricocheted off something else and was going much slower than bullet-speed. Potentially a round hit the floor and a shard could have bounced up past his ear.

I can see two notches in his ear in the picture - he is extremely lucky to have survived that. An inch to the side could have hit him in the neck or the eye or his skull. But that bestows him no special ability nor talent except his own personal whatever dark-soul-genie deal he made to continuously roll 20s. Guns are just as dangerous as they were before Donold became a lucky shooting survivor. So many kids and regular people haven't been so lucky when randomly shot at.

So it's hard to see where it's coming form.

I used to have a very intense (i.e., adrenaline flooded) reaction to any sudden image of blood and injury,. I'm happy to say I'm (mostly) over it, but that gave me a bit of a jolt.

I know it was highly pertinent to the discussion, so I understand why it was posted. I'm just weird.

My bad!

I know it's a crazy idea, but the other side loves that stuff. I think it was a setup. But now we've taken the momentum for now.

less lethal bullet ...
Jebus H.! You're right - crazy idea. The kind that we'd be better off not passing around.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Wax?
Rubber?
The FBI would have find traces of those.

Slower?
At that range using a underpowered bullet would make trajectory very uncertain, esp mixed in with regular hi-powered bullets.
If it had the speed to get there it had the speed to kill you IMO

And two others seriously wounded.

Let's try to stay grounded here.

What's up with that?

Only the republican pill-popper has opined. I don't trust him.

Did the FBI finally talk to the Drs after two freaking weeks?

Then say so, for crying out loud.

They just had unfortunate "accidents" as the years went by. Sure they did.............

BTW...I fail to see how Trump went to a hospital, got all the tests,shots and care a shooting victim would needed yet was seen exciting his plane in NJ in such a short period of time. I would think they would have at least held him overnight for observation.

I think they ask you to sign something that acknowledges you're leaving "against medical advice" (so you can't sue them blind if your condition worsens or something), but they can't make you stay.

Remembering how Trump acted when he had covid (making a big show of being a lot less sick than he really was), I could easily see him declining to stay for observation if he was asked to, Gotta show the voters what a big, tough, macho man he is!

He needs to be replaced. Right along side of DeJoy.

Even..... even if there's an an iota of truth to your story we're not going to believe it.

Signed,
The Boy Who Cried Wolf

There’s a whole lot of “saying” and a whole little of science.

3d recreation, with many angles and views.

Great analysis. Thanks for posting.

Was TSF attacked Wray and said he should be removed. Then Wray changed his story. What made Wray change, not a forensic report.

TSF’s threats?

His statement was that it was not clearly established (at that time)

I can't seem to find the evidence and reasoning they used to reach that conclusion. I'm still convinced it wasn't a bullet still travelling at supersonic speed, because if it was, Trump would have described hearing a loud crack like a bullwhip, not a "loud whizzing sound."

We're getting sidetracked arguing about stupid stuff. The result is the same.

There's an extremely important presidential election happening right now. We have to keep our eyes on the prize. Let the ChumpHumpers wallow in stupid arguments and fake news.

Remember the story about the tortoise and the hare? We're heading to the finish line and we won't be distracted.

Let's go team - all hands on deck.

and canonization.

Near death experiences make some people reevaluate their lives. Such is not the case here.

Link to tweet

lack of discernment exhibited by some since day one. You still have some claiming it was all staged and/or clinging the Teleprompter-Truther stance.

We have a lot of questions and not nearly enough clear answers yet, and the lack of info from the doctor(s) who treated TSF is particularly infuriating, imo. But we'll never be able to fully resolve anything in a messageboard discussion. We just don't have access to enough information.

I know it can be hard to let go of something like this when you're dying to know the real facts, but sometimes that's all you can do.

We should be asking ourselves this: The Repukes have pored over every tiny detail of Hunter Biden's sex life, but not one of them is calling for an investigation into this assassination attempt.

Why aren't they outraged like we know they can get? Because they've been told it's a nothing-burger and don't push it. Maybe they're trying way too hard to get us distracted by it, hmmm?

We`ll have to wait for more analysis to come in for the definitive answer - so far he got hit by something, that’s about it. Maybe bullet, maybe a fragment? What did the bullet hit then if it was a fragment? Sounds like they dont have the trajectories pinned down yet. Wait and see.

When the secret service sharp shooters were high up on their roof, why weren’t they looking through their scopes beforehand??

I’m sure if they did, they would have spotted the guy on the far away roof, then this shit would have never happened.

... requested permission to shoot him before he fired. In a period of 80 seconds to two minutes before he fired.

Multiple failures, any one of which could have thwarted the attempt. (List not not complete or vetted)

1) Roof was not monitored at time assassin climbed up. Various reasons given: root too hot for comfort, break time, own initiative to go do something else, and more.

2) Reports of the gun and the range finder were not take seriously.

3) One report may have reached the command centre and a cop sent out to check it out, results unknown.

4) Reports of drone flight hour or two before shots not noticed by USSS.

5) Why didn't tRump get hustled off the stage right away.

6) Trump was allowed to get on stage though reports of a possible shooter were circulating.

It just makes me wonder why the SS had handled the situation in such an amateurish way.

"bullet. or bullet fragment - from shooter's gun"

The shooter was after any politician. I believe even President Biden was in his agenda. Anyone in the area would have been his victim.
However, trumputin has told his inner circle to say nothing. Why would that be?
My guess is that his wounds are superficial but he wants to raise money out of the scuff he got. He claims he took a bullet for democracy. He also incited January 6 coup for democracy. He also had fake electors for democracy.
Anyone who believes his bullshit is as dumb as his cult.

If he wanted to raise money off his supposed "brush with death," he maybe should have kept wearing the bandage for a while longer. Publicly displaying a perfectly normal looking ear this soon after the incident isn't helping his credibility, lol.

However, we know he's not very smart and neither are his followers. The MAGA crowd may consider these pics to be evidence of a miraculous healing rather than a reason to question his version of events!

that an assassin got within shooting distance of a presidential candidate.

And, personally, I find the FBI not to be particularly credible.

I think that it is not believable that Trump or anyone physically close to him immediately after the shots were fired knew in advance of the shooting. That advance knowledge would be required for an injury to be simulated. I don't believe that in the heat of the moment Trump or anyone else would have come up with a plan to fake an injury. I don't think that anyone would, and we ain't exactly dealing with the fastest bosons in the supercollider here.

And whether it was a bullet or shrapnel it came very close to ending Trump's participation in the race. I think that it is not plausible that we were anything other than extremely fortunate. A wounded or martyred Trump would have guaranteed a Republican president and probably both houses of Congress.

That's not encouraging.

it's the only legit he'll ever get.

It could have sent a bone chip at Trump's ear.

When it comes to Pendejo45, question everything.

A couple of days ago, FBI Director Christopher Wray testifying before Congress, said: 'With respect to former president Trump, there’s some question about whether or not it’s a bullet or shrapnel that hit his ear'
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/video/2024/jul/25/fbi-director-questions-bullet-shrapnel-hit-trump-video

I believe the WH put pressure on the FBI to come out with a statement, affirming Pendejo45's side of events.

Until the medical report is released, I'm not buying any of this.

That is why the DoD uses them. They deliver lots of energy and shockwaves in a small bullet. It is surprising that he didn’t even need stitches.

or a fragment , or sharpie or anything else.

The real story here that a person was "allowed" (most likely by negligence) to get close enough to take a shot with a rifle at a presidential candidate, and kill someone else in the process.

The ear conjecture is media entertainment, and a far secondary story.

are up to their old tricks again. Wray is as bad as Comey.