A photo of Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump taken on Saturday without his ear bandage has sparked a wave of speculation.....CLICK HERE TO READ THE FULL ARTICLE>>>
The image, taken by Alex Brandon of the Associated Press on July 27 and shared by photojournalist Pete Souza on X, formerly Twitter, shows Trump walking up an airplane staircase with an apparently fully healed ear wound just weeks after he was shot with a high-powered rifle.
On July 12, gunman Thomas Matthew Crooks opened fire at Trump’s campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, killing firefighter Corey Comperatore, wounding Trump’s upper right ear, and critically injuring two others.
Souza, known for his tenure as the chief official White House photographer for Presidents Ronald Reagan and Barack Obama, posted Brandon’s photo on his now-deactivated X account on Saturday, writing, “AP photo this morning. Look closely at his ear that was ‘hit’ by a bullet from an AR-15 assault rifle.”
Souza’s post follows speculation from last week by FBI director Christopher Wray about whether Trump’s ear was hit by a bullet or by shrapnel. The FBI later confirmed he was hit by a bullet. Trump has made several public appearances since the assassination attempt wearing a bandage over his ear.
Souza’s profile, @PeteSouza, which had over 200,000 followers, now reads, “This account doesn’t exist, try searching for another,” implying that he has deleted or deactivated it. If he had been banned, it would read, “Account suspended. X suspends accounts which violate the X rules.”
Newsweekreached out to Souza and X for comment via email outside of business hours.
On Saturday night, journalist David Leavitt shared a screenshot of Souza’s post and his account, which at that time read, “Something went wrong.”
“Renowned photojournalist and White House photographer ‘no longer exists’ on Twitter after posting an AP picture of Donald Trump,” he wrote.
Later on Saturday, Leavitt posted a zoomed-in version of a different photograph showing Trump’s seemingly intact ear with an AP watermark. “Donald Trump doesn’t want you to see this,” he wrote. “Do not share this picture of his ear.” The post had been viewed 1.9 million times by Monday.
In the zoomed-in photo shared by Leavitt, Trump’s hair is blocking the top of his ear where the wound is located. In Brandon’s photo shared by Souza, in contrast, the top of Trump’s ear is visible. The wound appears to have largely healed, leaving only a slight change of skin coloration.
Souza and Leavitt are not the only people speculating about Trump’s bullet wound on X.
Podcast host Jack Hopkins reposted Brandon’s photo and wrote: “The assassination attempt was just 14 days ago. Trump is 78 years old. 78 year old human beings heal far more slowly.”
He mentioned his experience of seeing wounds as a nurse at an assisted living facility and said, “I believe we are being lied to.” The post was viewed 7.1 million times as of Monday,
Self-described “anti-establishment” X user @andrealynn_rn2 posted a different photograph of Trump on Saturday. “His ear is miraculously healed in only 14 days after “being grazed with a bullet,” she wrote. “Everyone should be questioning this…CONTINUE READING>>
