# What does it matter if Trump's ear was damaged by a bullet or shrapnel? **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Tags:** trump\ **Created:** [July 25, 2024, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-it-matter-if-trumps-ear-was-damaged-by-a-bullet-or-shrapnel/1004789 "2024-07-25T19:49:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2024, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-it-matter-if-trumps-ear-was-damaged-by-a-bullet-or-shrapnel/1004789/1 "2024-07-25T19:49:40Z")
There was a rumor that the ear was damaged by pieces of the teleprompter. There is much to do on Youtube over the FBI director testifying to Congress, “We don’t know if it was a bullet or shrapnel”. What does it matter? The kid was shooting at him. ---
**Author:** ![Folly](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/folly/32/3219_2.png) [@Folly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Folly)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2024, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-it-matter-if-trumps-ear-was-damaged-by-a-bullet-or-shrapnel/1004789/2 "2024-07-25T19:50:43Z")
If it is shrapnel, it increases the odds of it being a false flag operation by…I don’t know. 0.1% or something. ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2024, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-it-matter-if-trumps-ear-was-damaged-by-a-bullet-or-shrapnel/1004789/3 "2024-07-25T19:50:58Z")
It doesn’t really matter except for the historical record. Lying about the historical record is worth criticizing, if it turns out someone is lying. ---
**Author:** ![Munch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/munch/32/5281_2.png) [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2024, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-it-matter-if-trumps-ear-was-damaged-by-a-bullet-or-shrapnel/1004789/4 "2024-07-25T19:58:08Z")
Because if it’s teleprompter shrapnel, it means the bullet missed him by several feet, and not several millimeters. Dude still shot at him, but it wasn’t divine intervention that he avoided a shot between the eyes. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2024, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-it-matter-if-trumps-ear-was-damaged-by-a-bullet-or-shrapnel/1004789/5 "2024-07-25T19:58:48Z")
I doubt that he could tell what struck his ear, and I doubt he has the intellectual ability to consider that he may have been mistaken. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2024, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-it-matter-if-trumps-ear-was-damaged-by-a-bullet-or-shrapnel/1004789/6 "2024-07-25T19:59:23Z")
I don’t believe it was divine intervention in either case. ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2024, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-it-matter-if-trumps-ear-was-damaged-by-a-bullet-or-shrapnel/1004789/7 "2024-07-25T20:00:31Z")
I’m not even sure anyone will actually know the truth of the matter. And I agree it ultimately doesn’t matter either. ---
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2024, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-it-matter-if-trumps-ear-was-damaged-by-a-bullet-or-shrapnel/1004789/8 "2024-07-25T20:00:31Z")
It gives more drama and glory if it was a bullet. If it was a bullet, then Trump’s supporters can crow, “He was 1 millimeter from death yet lived!” If it was glass shrapnel, then it was more like, “He was several meters from death,” which doesn’t have the same catchet. In fact, one Christian “prophet” on social media is already crowing about how God had told him in March 2024 that Trump would take a bullet to his right ear but live. If it wasn’t a bullet but just shrapnel, a lot of the spiritual substance is gone. ---
**Author:** ![Munch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/munch/32/5281_2.png) [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2024, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-it-matter-if-trumps-ear-was-damaged-by-a-bullet-or-shrapnel/1004789/9 "2024-07-25T20:00:53Z")
I didn’t mean to give that impression. But there are plenty of MAGAts that have all prostrated themselves in front of whatever god they worship to thank them for sparing Trump by a mere hair’s breadth. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2024, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-it-matter-if-trumps-ear-was-damaged-by-a-bullet-or-shrapnel/1004789/10 "2024-07-25T20:02:22Z")
I think about like if it was me. “Damn that hurts!” I would wonder who the hell shot “at” me, and why? I wouldn’t care what I was _hit_ with. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2024, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-it-matter-if-trumps-ear-was-damaged-by-a-bullet-or-shrapnel/1004789/11 "2024-07-25T20:03:55Z")
Excellent comment, Beck, as always. ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2024, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-it-matter-if-trumps-ear-was-damaged-by-a-bullet-or-shrapnel/1004789/12 "2024-07-25T20:06:06Z")
> [@Munch](#): > > But there are plenty of MAGAts that have all prostrated themselves in front of whatever god they worship to thank them for sparing Trump by a mere hair’s breadth. I can tell you as a gun owner and someone who used to regularly do target practice (though I haven’t in a long time), a “mere hair’s breadth” really is the difference between getting in a deadly shot at someone and missing them entirely if you’re shooting at someone more than a short distance away. They wouldn’t be wrong in this. ---
**Author:** ![SuntanLotion](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/suntanlotion/32/16165_2.png) [@SuntanLotion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SuntanLotion)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2024, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-it-matter-if-trumps-ear-was-damaged-by-a-bullet-or-shrapnel/1004789/13 "2024-07-25T20:06:31Z")
> [@Velocity](#): > > It gives more drama and glory if it was a bullet. > > In fact, one Christian “prophet” on social media is already crowing about how God had told him in March 2024 that Trump would take a bullet to his right ear but live. If it wasn’t a bullet but just shrapnel, a lot of the spiritual substance is gone. Does this “prophet” have a screenshot from March proving this? Doubt it. ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2024, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-it-matter-if-trumps-ear-was-damaged-by-a-bullet-or-shrapnel/1004789/14 "2024-07-25T20:07:30Z")
> [@carnivorousplant](#): > > I doubt that he could tell what struck his ear, and I doubt he has the intellectual ability to consider that he may have been mistaken. The latter is no excuse for lying, if it turns out he is. ---
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2024, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-it-matter-if-trumps-ear-was-damaged-by-a-bullet-or-shrapnel/1004789/15 "2024-07-25T20:08:37Z")
> [@SuntanLotion](#): > > Does this “prophet” have a screenshot from March proving this? > Doubt it. That’s what I find suspicious too. But my broader point is that having a bullet come within millimeters (and, in fact, the head turning to the right at just the right time) of death gives immensely more drama and a sense of predestination than if it were some flying glass from some object. The bullet carries a lot more weight, in the figurative and non-figurative sense. That’s why Trumpers care a lot about it not being shrapnel. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2024, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-it-matter-if-trumps-ear-was-damaged-by-a-bullet-or-shrapnel/1004789/16 "2024-07-25T20:13:09Z")
Atamasama, have you seen the youtube video where Brandon Herrara shoots the ear of a target head? It destroyed the ear, do you have an opinion on that? Thanks. ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2024, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-it-matter-if-trumps-ear-was-damaged-by-a-bullet-or-shrapnel/1004789/17 "2024-07-25T20:16:39Z")
> [@carnivorousplant](#): > > Atamasama, have you seen the youtube video where Brandon Herrara shoots the ear of a target head? It destroyed the ear, do you have an opinion on that? Only to say that it shows that Trump didn’t take a direct shot to the ear. That doesn’t mean a slight graze or a bullet’s ricochet could not have resulted in him literally being hit by a bullet without suffering nearly as much damage. It is impossible to recreate what happened to Trump when we don’t even know what happened. 🙂 On the other hand, if someone insists a bullet went through-and-through the ear to pierce it, that’s clearly a lie. And you’d definitely be able to tell afterward. A bullet isn’t a needle, and a bullet tends to deform whenever it strikes something, so even a small caliber would make a really big hole in anything it penetrates. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2024, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-it-matter-if-trumps-ear-was-damaged-by-a-bullet-or-shrapnel/1004789/18 "2024-07-25T20:20:29Z")
I assume that one of the teleprompters was damaged? ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2024, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-it-matter-if-trumps-ear-was-damaged-by-a-bullet-or-shrapnel/1004789/19 "2024-07-25T20:25:24Z")
It wasn’t. Here is an article from around the time of the shooting, which is the kind of reporting that led to the idea that it was glass from a teleprompter. > **[Donald Trump was hit by glass fragments and not bullet, report claims; haters...](https://www.hindustantimes.com/world-news/us-news/trump-reportedly-hit-by-glass-fragments-not-bullet-haters-claim-shooting-a-hoax-101720923839860.html)** > > Trump rally shooting sparks debate over gunshot or glass injury, Biden condemns attack This later article says there was no damage to any teleprompters, however. > **['Not sure whether it was bullet or shrapnel': FBI director on assassination...](https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/us/not-sure-whether-it-was-bullet-or-shrapnel-fbi-director-on-assassination-bid-on-trump/articleshow/112006815.cms)** > > US News: FBI Director Christopher Wray updated Congress on the assassination attempt on Donald Trump at a Pennsylvania rally. Trump's survival might be due to > Initial reports speculated that Trump might have been struck by shattered glass when a bullet hit the teleprompter. However, this theory was debunked when photos showed both glass screens intact after the attack. I know it’s weird that both of those articles are from India, but I am having trouble finding any other articles discussing the issue one way or another. ETA: Here is a story out of Cleveland that verifies that the story about the teleprompter is clearly inaccurate. > **[Fact-checking the shattering teleprompter conspiracy theory at Trump rally...](https://www.news5cleveland.com/politics/disinformation-desk/fact-checking-the-shattering-teleprompter-conspiracy-theory-at-trump-rally-shooting)** > > The Scripps News Disinformation Desk looked into a conspiracy theory about a shattered teleprompter injuring Donald Trump at his Pennsylvania rally where he was subject to an assassination attempt. The evidence is simple; the teleprompters are intact in photos taken after the shooting. If they were shattered enough to send glass flying everywhere to injure people they would have been very visibly damaged. ---
**Author:** ![Munch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/munch/32/5281_2.png) [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2024, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-it-matter-if-trumps-ear-was-damaged-by-a-bullet-or-shrapnel/1004789/20 "2024-07-25T20:29:41Z")
Thank you for that insight - I’m not a gun owner, and haven’t shot one for a few decades. That makes sense. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-it-matter-if-trumps-ear-was-damaged-by-a-bullet-or-shrapnel/1004789.md?page=2)