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Trump’s Former Doctor Ronny Jackson Tells RNC: ‘Never, Ever Been Prouder’


Texas Rep. Ronny Jackson, Trump’s former White House physician, called the attempted assassination on the Republican presidential nominee an “all time moment in American history.”

“I can say I served for a president who literally took a bullet for our country,” Jackson said.

Jackson had joined the White House Medical Unit in the mid-2000s under George W. Bush. He served also for Barack Obama and Trump. In March 2018, Trump nominated Jackson to be the U.S. secretary of veterans affairs, but Jackson withdrew the following month among misconduct and mismanagement allegations.

RNC
Rep. Ronny Jackson, R-Texas, speaking during the Republican National Convention Wednesday, July 17, 2024, in Milwaukee.

J. Scott Applewhite/Associated Press

He retired from the Navy as a rear admiral in 2019. In 2021, an investigation by the Defense Department inspector general found that Jackson engaged in inappropriate behaviors as an admiral, and he was retroactively demoted to the rank of captain.

Jackson was elected to the House of Representatives in 2021, and in 2022, Jackson published a political memoir “Holding the Line” about his time working with Trump.

Jackson spoke with Trump shortly after the former president was nearly assassinated.

Minutes into Trump’s speech at the rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, loud popping noises were heard as people huddled for safety. Trump appeared to clutch his ear and fell to the ground. When he stood back up, surrounded by Secret Service agents, as blood was seen running down his face.

“I have never ever been prouder of his leadership than I was last Saturday,” Jackson said at the RNC on Wednesday. “His warrior spirit and his display of will to keep fighting for our country even after getting shot down will go down as an all time moment in American history.”

Trump told Jackson that a small head tilt to face his presentation saved his life during the attack.

“That chart that I was going over saved my life,” Trump told Jackson by phone a few hours after the assassination attempt, according to The New York Times. “He said, ‘If I hadn’t pointed at that chart and turned my head to look at it, that bullet would have hit me right in the head.'”

Jackson shared to X, formerly Twitter, that his nephew was also injured at the rally.

“Thankfully his injury was not serious and he is doing well. My family was sitting in the front, near where the President was speaking,” Jackson posted. “They heard shots ringing out — my nephew then realized he had blood on his neck and something had grazed and cut his neck.”

Jackson said on The Benny Show that he dressed Trump’s “ear up this morning.”

“It was far enough away from his head that there was no concussive effects from the bullet and it just took the top of his ear off a little bit,” Jackson said.

Jackson continued with his speech on Wednesday discussing how “being president is an unrelenting 24/7 job.”

“Time off truly just doesn’t exist,” Jackson said. “Let’s not kid ourselves, Father Time has not been kind on Biden.”

Jackson expressed his concerns for Biden’s ability to be in charge of the “safety and security of our country.

“Every second that Joe Biden remains in the White House, this country remains less safe,” Jackson said.

Follow Newseek’s coverage of the RNC Day 3 here.

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