The injury former President Donald Trump suffered to his ear during the failed assassination attempt a week ago appears to be nothing more than a "superficial wound," according to Dr. Anthony Fauci.
"From what we've seen and what we've heard, it was a bullet shot that grazed his ear and injured his ear, according to the physicians who examined him," Fauci, who served in Trump's Coronavirus Task Force, told CNN's Wolf Blitzer Friday, reports The Hill. "There was no other further damage."
Fauci added that it's "dangerous" to make a diagnosis from afar, but still, from the "way he's acting now and what his physicians' report saw, it seems to have been a superficial wound to the ear, and that's all."
Fauci, who is retired after decades heading the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and two years as chief medical adviser to President Joe Biden, added that the shot "grazed [Trump's] ear and injured his ear."
His comments came after he was shown watching clips of Trump speaking about his injury, which took place after a shooter opened fire at a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, on July 13.
The president spoke about his injury during his acceptance speech for the GOP presidential nomination Thursday, when he said the bullet missed taking his life by about a quarter-inch.
Fauci, meanwhile, said he believes Trump is "in the clear" where the bullet and his wound are concerned.
The former president, appearing at the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee just after the assassination attempt, wore a large white bandage on his ear.
He said he heard a "whizzing sound" during the shooting and then noticed that his ear was injured.
Fauci, meanwhile, said he imagines that the doctors who examined Trump conducted a brain study, such as an MRI or CT scan, but he couldn't say for sure.
"That would be a reasonable thing to do following an encounter the way he had with a bullet," said Fauci.
His comments come after neurosurgeon Dr. Sanjay Gupta, CNN's chief medical correspondent, said that a gunshot blast near the head can result in injuries not immediately noticeable, such as a brain bleed, damage to the inner ear, or psychological trauma.
However, Gupta said that information has not been made available if there were any lasting effects from the injury.
"A full public assessment of Trump's injuries is necessary, for both the former president's own health and the clarity it can provide for voters about the recovery of the man who could become president of the United States once again," said Gupta.
"He's got a good clinical judgment," Fauci said about Gupta's assessment. "He's a practicing neurosurgeon. So, again, it's very difficult from a distance when you're not examining someone yourself to make any projection about it."
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
© 2024 Newsmax. All rights reserved.