Fact Check: Rumor That Shards of Glass, Not Bullet, Injured Trump in Assassination Attempt Is False
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Claim:
The injury Trump sustained during a July 13, 2024, assassination attempt wasn't caused by a bullet but by broken glass.
Rating:
Immediately following the attempted assassination of former U.S. President Donald Trump on July 13, 2024, skepticism over the notion that Trump had actually been hit by a bullet was fueled by anonymously sourced reports that he was "not struck by a bullet, but hit by glass fragments" from a teleprompter that had been hit by a bullet.
Reporters from both Newsmax and Axios reported on a source making this claim, which was then amplified by other outlets including Raw Story. Some went so far as to call the purported disclosure evidence of a "stunt."
There was, however, no evidence to suggest anything other than a bullet caused the wound to Trump's ear, and these early reports to the contrary have largely been walked back.
The assertion that glass, not a bullet, caused the injury is undercut by the fact that photographs show no damage to the teleprompters allegedly hit to produce the broken glass, by a New York Times photograph capturing a bullet passing by Trump's ear, and by the fact that Trump later stated, on Truth Social, that a bullet had, in fact, pierced his ear:
I was shot with a bullet that pierced the upper part of my right ear. I knew immediately that something was wrong in that I heard a whizzing sound, shots, and immediately felt the bullet ripping through the skin.
Trump's description of his wound matches photographs of his ear after he was hit, prior to being removed from stage. The two circles below, added by Snopes, highlight two areas that appear to show torn skin:
Following initial publication of this piece, several users online took umbrage with our assertion that there was no evidence of broken teleprompters, sharing this photo as purported evidence of a shattered teleprompter:
However, this photograph, a low-resolution version of an image taken by Getty Images photographer Anna Moneymaker, does not show a damaged teleprompter. The purported damage shown in the top right corner is merely a reflection of some object, as seen below in a zoomed-in, higher-resolution version of the same photograph:
Other photographs taken after the above photograph show two intact teleprompter screens. The photo below comes after the would-be assassin's shots were fired because the armed and helmeted law enforcement officer at the bottom left did not get onto the stage until the shots stopped, based on video of the event:
Here is that same moment photographed from a different angle, clearly showing two intact teleprompters:
Other video from after the incident shows two intact teleprompters as well.
The theory that glass from a teleprompter caused Trump's wound requires a broken teleprompter. There is no evidence to support the notion that either of the teleprompters at the rally was broken at any point during or after the attempted assassination.
While such a fact does not prove that shrapnel of some kind was not involved in Trump's ear injury, it does disprove the specific allegation that originated the initial claim that Trump was not hit with a bullet. Law enforcement officers near Trump were reportedly hit by shrapnel.
In a hearing before the House Oversight Committee on July 24, 2024, FBI Director Chris Wray indicated that the agency, to his knowledge, had not determined whether it had been a bullet or shrapnel that caused Trump's ear injury. "There's some question about whether or not it's a bullet or shrapnel that hit his ear," when asked by U.S. Rep. Jim Jordan if all the would-be assassin's bullets had been accounted for.
In Snopes' view, neither the simple existence of shrapnel nor the lack of official confirmation from the FBI into an active investigation outweighs the balance of visual evidence demonstrating that Trump's wound stemmed from a bullet that grazed his ear.
Because there is photographic evidence of a bullet, and of a wound caused by a bullet, early and imprecisely sourced claims that Trump's injuries stemmed from broken glass are "False."
Sources:
Ard, Alexa Juliana. "Photos: Bloodied Trump Rushed off Stage after Assassination Attempt at Pennsylvania Rally." USA TODAY, https://www.usatoday.com/picture-gallery/news/politics/2024/07/13/trump-rushed-off-stage-by-secret-service-at-pennsylvania-rally/74396190007/. Accessed 15 July 2024.
"Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump)." Truth Social, https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/112782066045321247. Accessed 15 July 2024.
"Early Claims Trump Hit by Glass Fragments Undermined by New York Times Photos." Rawstory, https://www.rawstory.com/trump-was-hit-by-glass-fragments-not-a-bullet-report/. Accessed 15 July 2024.
Gold, Michael, et al. "Trump Is Safe After Assassination Attempt; Suspected Gunman Is Dead." The New York Times, 13 July 2024. NYTimes.com, https://www.nytimes.com/live/2024/07/14/us/trump-shooting-news-biden.
MSN. 14 July 2024, https://web.archive.org/web/20240714205135/https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/crime/not-so-fast-donald-trump-was-hit-by-glass-from-shattered-teleprompter-not-a-bullet-according-to-sources/ar-BB1pVVKz." target="blank">https://web.archive.org/web/20240714205135/https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/crime/not-so-fast-donald-trump-was-hit-by-glass-from-shattered-teleprompter-not-a-bullet-according-to-sources/ar-BB1pVVKz.">https://web.archive.org/web/20240714205135/https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/crime/not-so-fast-donald-trump-was-hit-by-glass-from-shattered-teleprompter-not-a-bullet-according-to-sources/ar-BB1pVVKz.
PerryCook, Taija. "Pic Shows Bullet Flying Past Trump?" Snopes, 17 July 2024, https://www.snopes.com//fact-check/picture-trump-bullet/.
"Trump Was Hit by Glass Fragments — Not a Bullet: Report." Rawstory, https://web.archive.org/web/20240714022522/https://www.rawstory.com/trump-was-hit-by-glass-fragments-not-a-bullet-report/. Accessed 15 July 2024.
FOX 5 New York. WATCH: Moment Trump Appears to Be Shot at Rally. 2024. YouTube, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fYfvSspaJtk.
"Republican Presidential Candidate Former President Donald Trump Is..." Getty Images, 13 July 2024, https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/republican-presidential-candidate-former-president-donald-news-photo/2161922156.
The Wall Street Journal. Debunking Conspiracy Theories Around Trump's Assassination Attempt | WSJ. 2024. YouTube, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=46s81vcbB0o.
"U.S. Secret Service Agents and Counter Assault Team React Moments..." Getty Images, 16 July 2024, https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/butler-pa-u-s-secret-service-agents-and-counter-assault-news-photo/2161606800.
"LATEST: President Biden Calls for End to Political Violence after Attempted Assassination of Trump." WPXI, 15 July 2024, https://www.wpxi.com/news/local/shots-fired-trump-rally-donald-trump-rushed-off-stage/GRXLQ67PEVDPDKDPNNE3AEGMGU/.
Updates:
July 17, 2024: This report was updated to add additional documentation of no broken teleprompters and to clarify language Snopes previously used describing a photo showing "a bullet striking Trump."
July 25, 2024: This report was updated to include comments from FBI Director Chris Wray regarding shrapnel and reporting suggesting some law enforcement officers near former President Donald Trump were hit by shrapnel.
