“A “Illegal immigration saved my life,” he told tycoon Elon Musk on Monday, in a live conversation with the owner of the social network X (formerly Twitter).
The attack, in which he was wounded in the ear, occurred on July 13 at a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania. A 20-year-old gunman, who was shot dead by police, opened fire on Trump from a rooftop outside the venue, killing one audience member and wounding two.
Just before he was hit in the ear, Trump turned his head to show the crowd a graph indicating a significant drop in the number of illegal immigrant arrivals during the Republican’s term (2017-2021).
“It was a miracle. If I hadn’t turned my head, I wouldn’t be here talking to you right now, as much as I love you,” Trump said, in a conversation that began 45 minutes late because, Musk said, the network suffered a massive denial of service attack, known as DDOS.
Trump said he was glad he had used the chart. “I’m going to sleep with it forever,” he joked, while accusing the Biden administration of opening the border to “illegal immigrants” and allowing countries like Venezuela to reduce crime rates by “getting rid of these people.”
The former president also downplayed the importance of how quickly he got up after the attack and offered an image that remained for posterity, with a bloody ear and a raised fist, surrounded by security agents.
“I wish that [o público] “They knew I was okay. It was a big deal to me. Before I stood up and raised my fist, they didn’t know if I was alive. And when I did, they were relieved and happy. The place went crazy,” he said.
The Republican candidate defended his relationship with foreign leaders such as Russia’s Vladimir Putin, North Korea’s Kim Jong-un and China’s Xi Jinping: “Getting along with them is a good thing, it’s not a bad thing.”
“I know every single one of them. And let me tell you, people are going to say, ‘Oh, this is terrible. ‘ I’m not saying anything good or bad. They’re at the top of their game, they’re tough, they’re smart, and they’re going to protect their country. They probably love their country. It’s just a different form of love, but they’re going to protect it,” he said.
With the Democrats coming to power in January 2021, these leaders “can’t believe” the turnaround in the US, he stressed.
“Our country is so confused right now. It’s such a different place. We used to be respected. Four years ago we were respected to the point where when I said, ‘don’t buy oil,’ they wouldn’t buy it,” he said.
Trump argued that during his term there was “zero chance” that Israel would have been attacked.
The conversation was scheduled to start at 8pm on Monday (1am in Lisbon) and more than 300,000 users had initially tried to follow it live.
Also this Monday, less than three months before the presidential elections on November 5, Trump posted again on the social network owned by Musk and marked his return with several electoral messages.
The last message was dated January 8, 2021. The social network decided to suspend Trump’s account that month, following the political tension arising from the 2020 presidential election and the attack on the Capitol by supporters of the Republican.
Read Also: Donald Trump’s campaign accuses the European Union of interference
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Source: https://www.noticiasaominuto.com/mundo/2614537/trump-diz-em-entrevista-com-musk-que-imigracao-ilegal-salvou-lhe-a-vida
