Former President Donald Trump said he has a new "viewpoint on life" and an increased appreciation of God in his first public comments since surviving an assassination attempt.
Trump spoke Wednesday when he attended the premiere of Citizens United's film "Trump's Rescue Mission: Saving America" in Milwaukee, site of the Republican National Convention.
The former president spoke four days after he was shot in the ear during the failed assassination attempt at a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania.
At the movie premiere, Trump was greeted by attendees who chanted "Fight! Fight! Fight!"
"You say, 'How did that happen?' But I got lucky. God was with me, I tell you," the former president said at the Miller High Life Theater.
"That's what they call a close call. That was an amazing, horrible thing. Amazing thing. And in many ways, it changes your attitude, your viewpoint on life. And I think, honestly, I think you appreciate God even more. I really do.
"Because something — something happened. Something happened. Not that it was pleasant. It wasn't like it was a complete miss, but it was — it's pretty terrible that that can happen. And it happens too often. We have things going on, just crime in our country is so bad. Things are going wrong with our country. We're gonna fix it."
Trump is slated to accept the Republican nomination for president on Thursday night. Running mate Sen. J.D. Vance, R-Ohio, accepted the party's vice presidential nomination Tuesday night.
The former president has said he tossed his original speech for the convention and rewrote it to focus on unity following the attempt on his life Saturday.
One rally spectator was killed and two others were injured during the assassination attempt.
Republican lawmakers are demanding that Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle resign following the events in Pennsylvania, where law enforcement was aware of a suspicious person, later identified as would-be assassin Thomas Matthew Crooks, 20, well before shots were fired.
Charlie McCarthy ✉
Charlie McCarthy, a writer/editor at Newsmax, has nearly 40 years of experience covering news, sports, and politics.
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