Donald Trump’s former White House physician insisted Friday he is certain the former president was hit by a bullet during his assassination attempt two weeks ago.
“There is absolutely no evidence that it was anything other than a bullet,” Ronny Jackson, a Republican U.S. House representative from Texas who is no longer a fully licensed physician, said in a letter posted on Truth Social.
Jackson slammed FBI Director Christopher Wray, who told Congress this week that he could not conclude whether Trump was hit or grazed by a bullet, or by flying shrapnel.
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“Director Wray is wrong and inappropriate to suggest anything else,” Jackson said.
Trump also attacked the FBI director, posting on Truth Social Thursday night: “FBI Director Christopher Wray told Congress yesterday that he wasn’t sure if I was hit by shrapnel, glass, or a bullet (the FBI never even checked!) ...”
Questions over the cause of Trump’s ear wound have swirled since the assassination attempt and were fueled this week by Christopher Wray, the FBI Director, saying the agency does not know if he was hit by a bullet or shrapnel.
Tom Brenner/ReutersJackson, who earned the nickname “Candyman” during his White House tenure for allegedly freely doling out prescription drugs, said that based on his experience as a combat doctor who has treated “many gunshot wounds in my career,” he concurs with what he called the “initial assessment and treatment provided by the doctors and nurses at Butler Memorial Hospital on the day of the shooting.”
However, the hospital where Trump was treated following the July 13 attempt on his life, which injured his right ear, has declined to release any information on the former president’s condition and treatment, referring all inquiries to the Trump campaign.
A spokesman for Butler Memorial Hospital, Tom Chakurda, told the Daily Beast two days after the assassination attempt, “We’re deferring any comment to the Trump team.” The Trump campaign has declined to respond to questions about Trump’s condition and treatment.
The update on Trump’s condition came from Ronny Jackson, who was his White House physician but who is. now only licensed to practice in emergency situations and not to provide ongoing care.
David Dee Delgado/ReutersIn his statement on Friday, Jackson, who also served as White House physician to former president Barack Obama, said, “I want to reassure the American people and the rest of the world, that President Trump is doing extremely well. He is rapidly recovering from the gunshot wound to his right ear.”
As well as giving up his full medical license, Jackson was demoted from admiral to captain after the Pentagon inspector general found that he drank on the job and verbally abused subordinates. He retired in the wake of disciplinary action.
