Aside from his footwear, what was Donald Trump thinking about after taking a bullet to his ear on July 13, 2024? He may have revealed more than he meant to in an interview with Dr. Phil.
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00:00Let me get my shoes on."
00:01Aside from his footwear, what was Donald Trump thinking about after taking a bullet to his
00:05ear on July 13th, 2024? He may have revealed more than he meant to in an interview with
00:10Dr. Phil.
00:11Hoping to make his case for re-election, the former president sat down for the second time
00:16in two months with Dr. Phil McGraw on August 27th, 2024. Anyone looking for new insights
00:22into the former president's personality or ideas, however, came away disappointed. McGraw
00:27essentially let Trump use the hour of airtime to repeat his familiar talking points — border
00:32security, the economy, and attacks on his opponent, Vice President Kamala Harris.
00:37"'These are very dishonest people that we're dealing with.'"
00:40One telling moment of the night involved something that Trump didn't say. The two men discussed
00:44the attempt on the former president's life at a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania. Trump
00:49was lucky to have only sustained a minor injury to his ear, but others were far more seriously
00:54One attendee, firefighter Corey Comparatore, was killed. Perhaps hoping the divisive candidate
01:00would show his softer side, McGraw asked,
01:02"'Has this changed you? Has it changed your appreciation for life? Has it changed anything
01:08about you? Did you hug your kids extra hard?'
01:12Trump could have taken the opportunity to confess to a change in priorities, express
01:16a newfound respect for his life, or honor the people who were killed and injured. But
01:20he didn't, really. He instead turned the conversation back to himself. In fact, he wouldn't refer
01:26to his family throughout the rest of the hour. After noting that a lot of people ask him
01:30whether the shooting changed him, Trump said,
01:32"'Look, being president's a dangerous job. It's much more dangerous than a race car driver
01:38or than anything.'"
01:39Trump's answer to whether the shooting changed him may surprise some, but it's perfectly
01:43in line with what some people who were once close to him have said about him. Trump's
01:47one-time national security advisor, General H.R. McMaster, who is now a critic of the
01:51former president, has made the scathing claim that Trump is easily swayed by whomever flatters
01:56him, often getting in the way of serving the American people.
01:59"'Oftentimes you can't hang on to that decision, and then policy becomes unmoored.'"
02:05Much of the remainder of the interview is focused on criticizing President Joe Biden
02:09and Harris, as well as sowing doubt in the vote count in the November election. Dr. Phil
02:14also gave Trump the chance to explain this eyebrow-raising statement from July.
02:18"'Four more years, you know what? It'll be fixed, it'll be fine. You won't have to vote
02:23anymore, my beautiful Christian.'"
02:25Trump said that what he meant by that was that he needs people who don't normally vote
02:29to make an exception for him this year.
02:31"'Vote this time. Get us in. Once we're in, we're gonna fix the country, and it's not
02:36gonna be important for you to come, and we're not gonna need you voted.'"
02:40Some took Trump's initial comment to be an indication that it would be the end of free
02:44in the U.S. Trump offered assurances that elections would continue. Even the Almighty,
02:49Trump suggested, wants the election to tilt in his favor. When Dr. Phil asked if Trump
02:53believes there's a reason he was spared during the assassination attempt, the former president
02:57chalked it up to divine intervention.
02:59"'I mean, the only thing I can think is that God loves our country, and he thinks we're
03:05gonna bring our country back.'"