Trump says he ‘took a bullet for democracy’

Former President Trump said on Saturday that he “took a bullet for democracy” after he was shot in the ear during an assassination attempt against his life last week.

“...They're seriously extreme, but I don't know anything about it,” Trump said during a rally in Grand Rapids, Mich., while speaking about Project 2025. 

“I don't want to know anything about it. But what they do is misinformation and disinformation, and they keep saying he's a threat to democracy,” Trump continued, referring to Democrats. “I'm saying, 'What the hell did I do for democracy? Last week, I took a bullet for democracy.'”

Democrats have sought to tie Trump to Project 2025, a conservative policy platform organized by the Heritage Platform, whose contributors include former Trump administration officials. The former president and his campaign have disavowed Project 2025.

Trump’s comments come one week since the former president survived an assassination attempt while campaigning in Butler, Pa. He was shot in the ear less than 10 minutes into his speech, prompting him to be escorted off stage. Trump was wearing a smaller, flesh-tone bandage on his right ear at his rally on Saturday, different from the larger white one he wore at the Republican National Convention earlier this week.

One attendee and the shooter died during the attack while two others were injured.

Trump said during his Michigan rally, “I stand before you only by the grace of Almighty God.”