Questions about the lack of official answers on Trump's injury
Yes, his ear was clearly injured. But how? How was it treated? What are the resulting health issues, if any? Will there be medical follow-ups? Voters deserve answers to these questions.
Let’s be honest: Trusting Donald Trump about anything, even his own injury, is not a smart move. Trump — who infamously told over 30,473 documented lies during his presidency — should not be the sole medical source on his ear injury.
Yes, his ear was clearly injured. But how? How was it treated? What are the resulting health issues, if any? Will there be medical follow-ups? Voters deserve answers to these questions so where are the briefings, official statements and medical reports?
Contrast the lack of information about Trump’s injury with how the Biden White House handled news on Wednesday that the president had just tested positive for COVID. Biden’s press secretary released a statement about the situation that included detailed information from the president’s doctor about the diagnosis, Biden’s symptoms and treatment plan. We now know more about Biden’s just-diagnosed COVID case than we do about the injury to Trump during an assassination attempt five days ago.
In the six days since the shooting incident, there has not been any official information about the injury to Trump’s ear. Nothing from the hospital that treated Trump. Nothing from law enforcement that were at the scene or are now investigating the incident. The Trump campaign is refusing to answer any questions. So far, the primary source of information about Trump’s wound is Trump himself. That seems not just odd but concerning, given what we all know about Trump’s credibility problems.
Trump has long lied and misled the public about his health. His estranged niece, Mary Trump, says he equates sickness with weakness. Recall that in 2020, he misled the country about testing positive for COVID just before his first debate with Joe Biden and then withheld how dangerously sick the virus made him. We learned months later that “officials believed he would need to be put on a ventilator.” And of course, during his first campaign, he provided a completely laughable letter claiming that he would be the healthiest person ever to serve as president.
An attempted assassination is clearly very serious and concerning for the entire country so it’s crucial to get updated, accurate information. But with a glaring lack of official statements about Trump’s injury, the news media is coming up empty. Instead, we have a few stories like this one from AP about the lack of available information.
So far, the only doctor on record about Trump’s injury is former White House physician and current Republican congressman Ronny Jackson. He says “the bullet took a little bit off the top of his ear.” But Jackson cannot be the only doctor we hear from on Trump’s injury. He’s just not a credible enough source.
Meanwhile, while as the nation reels from the assassination attempt, the Trump myth-making has begun. Some Trump supporters and at least one newspaper columnist are saying God intervened to save Trump from death by gunshot. Convention delegates are wearing bandages on their ears in tribute to Trump. Trump himself made a dramatic first appearance at the convention where that bandage was first revealed. He’s also talking about his lucky close call.
Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump points to his ear during the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee. (AP Photo/Julia Nikhinson)
But more transparency is still required as former RNC Chair Michael Steele and many others are saying. Columnist Rex Huppke has an excellent list of questions that still need to be answered:
“What, specifically, was his injury, and how was it treated?
What is his current medical condition in the wake of the injury, and has he been prescribed medication? If so, what kind?
Will additional medical procedures be required?
Has the former president had a psychological evaluation in the wake of the shooting?
How is his medical team planning to address the possibility of PTSD or other psychological after-effects?
Is he planning ongoing mental health counseling?”
And still another unanswered question is what actually caused the injury? So far, Trump is the only one on record saying he was a hit by a bullet. Poynter columnist Tom Jones writes “there is no proof behind the conspiracy theories that Trump was injured by anything other than a bullet.” But we still need an official report from doctors and investigators to confirm that.
This is a complicated time for the country and official details about the former president’s injuries are certainly not among the most pressing matters. Still, journalists must not shy away from doing a thorough and complete job of trying to answer all of the unanswered questions about that awful day in Pennsylvania.
Jennifer Schulze is a Chicago journalist reporting on journalism. You can read her columns here and at Heartland Signal. Follow Jennifer on Threads @newsjennifer_schulze or Twitter/X @NewsJennifer.