Americans are right to have questions, a week after the attempted assassination of Republican presidential nominee, Donald Trump. They have questions about who exactly allowed a 20-year-old man to nearly kill a former U.S. president at a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, after clambering up a ladder onto a roof within 200 yards of Trump, then firing off rounds from an AR-15 rifle toward the stage where Trump was speaking. (The shooter did kill Corey Comperatore, and injure two others in the crowd.)
They have questions about Secret Service Director Kim Cheatle's competence to do her job, as well as a few questions on why DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas appeared to be trying to keep her from testifying before congressional committees in recent days.
One of the questions they haven't been asking: Why has there been a lack of information released about Trump's condition since the shooting? But CNN's Dr. Sanjay Gupta wrote a full treatise on this allegedly shadowy topic on Friday:
[A]lthough the images we’ve seen of Trump since his attempted assassination have been those of a person who was barely injured and is now in high spirits, what we’ve been told by the campaign offers very little insight into the former president’s condition, what kind of care he received or how his medical team will monitor him in the days and weeks ahead.
One of Gupta's biggest worries, he said, was the lack of "a full public assessment of Trump’s injuries" being released, in the name of safeguarding "the former president’s own health," and being transparent with potential voters.
He continued:
The concern is that gunshot blasts near the head can cause injuries that aren’t immediately noticeable, such as bleeding in or on the brain, damage to the inner ear or even psychological trauma. As a trauma neurosurgeon, I have seen how a thorough evaluation after any kind of gunshot wound can provide a complete picture and lead to a speedier recovery.
He added:
It’s not even clear that he was struck by a primary projectile from the rifle, a secondary projectile or a combination of both. Sometimes, it can be difficult to know without an in-depth evaluation.
But even so, Gupta had to admit that initial signs were that Trump was "fine," just like the campaign said within an hour of the shooting:
With US Secret Service surrounding him, he stood up about a minute later, raised his right arm and was able to walk and speak immediately. We saw him rouse the audience, telling them to “Fight!” as he pumped his fist in the air. From a medical standpoint, these are all very good signs and, despite the visible blood on his face, provided evidence that he wasn’t severely injured.
Near his conclusion, he continued to share his deep "concern" over the Trump team failing to brief the media as he would like:
The good news is that most physical symptoms of an injury would probably have revealed themselves over the past few days. At this point, however, the Trump campaign hasn’t yet shared whether a full workup was done at the time or if there has been any follow-up since.
Someone could argue that this is just CNN's chief medical correspondent being thorough and fair to both sides. After all, he said that he was "concerned" about Joe Biden in the wake of the debate--which, incredibly, was only about two weeks ago--and suggested that the president make public the results of any cognitive testing he might receive.
Fair play?
But I don't think that's what we're seeing here. We are still talking about CNN, which has not reformed in any meaningful way as a news outlet to treat everyone fairly. Gupta slides right to the edge of concern-trolling. Tell me I'm wrong that this is a stretch. In the past week, Trump attended hours and hours of the RNC, then held court for a 90-minute speech Thursday, which included several segments of off-the-cuff remarks, as our Neil McCabe, who was there in person, mentioned in the RedState Live Blog. If something serious was happening with Trump, everyone would know about it by now.
Sure enough, Rep. Ronny Jackson (R-TX), Trump's former White House physician, has the facts at hand, with a memo posted Saturday on Trump's Truth Social account, giving a detailed description of the injury he sustained and explaining what care he's received:
Donald Trump Truth Social 03:15 PM EST 07/20/24 @realDonaldTrump pic.twitter.com/240MsmBAmf
— Donald J. Trump Posts From His Truth Social (@TrumpDailyPosts) July 20, 2024
Former President Donald Trump was evaluated with a CT scan after he was grazed by a bullet and sustained a 2 cm-wide wound to his ear last week....
The memo, which Trump posted on his Truth Social account on Saturday, is directed to “concerned citizens of the United States”....
While officials have not disclosed much information about the extent of Trump’s injuries after the bullet grazed his right ear, Jackson shared more specific details about Trump’s condition, writing that the bullet caused “significant bleeding” and “marked swelling” to the “cartilaginous surface of the ear.”
“The bullet passed, coming less than a quarter of an inch from entering his head, and struck the top of his right ear,” Jackson wrote.
After Trump was wounded, he was treated at Butler Memorial Hospital, near the site of the rally, before being released later that night. Jackson said Trump will continue to be evaluated, including with hearing exams “as needed,” and will follow up with his primary care doctor.
Jackson, who examined Trump at his residence in Bedminster, New Jersey, the night of the assassination attempt and says he has treated Trump daily since then, also provided some explanation for the large white ear bandage that Trump has worn since the first night of the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee. The dressing was required due to “intermittent bleeding” that has continued in the days since the shooting, Jackson wrote.
Jackson ended his statement by noting that "President Trump is doing well," and that Jackson would remain at his side this weekend, including at Saturday's rally in Grand Rapids, Michigan. As he wrote, it's still "an absolute miracle" that Trump was not killed by the wannabe assassin.
My colleague Ward Clark speaks for many with his reply to the vile Keith Olbermann on this topic:
Keith.
— Ward Clark (@TheGreatLander) July 21, 2024
You're an idiot. https://t.co/GfzCG3LdEV
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