Trump: Why I Chanted ‘Fight, Fight, Fight’ After Shooting

Even amid bloody chaos at his campaign rally on Saturday, Donald Trump felt it was necessary to urge his followers to “fight, fight, fight” as a way to remind them of the MAGA mission that propelled Trump to the White House in 2016 and may return him there in November.

In an interview with CNBC’s Joe Kernan, co-host of Squawk Box, Trump on Sunday spoke for the first time about his iconic fist-pumping moment following the shooting rampage

“He thought it was essential to get out the message at that moment to continue to fight to make America great,” Kernan posted on X after his interview.

Kernan also revealed that Trump was lucky to have turned his head at just the right moment to avoid a more serious and potentially fatal blow. The conservative host, who is a friend of Trump’s, said the former president shared he is suffering from a “little problem with his right ear but was glad he turned his head at the last minute.”

The Squawk Box host didn’t say whether he had gleaned any details from the former president on the exact nature of his injuries. Neither Trump nor medical professionals who treated him have released any information on what type of injuries the Republican Party leader sustained at the rally, where a 20-year-old gunman fired a gun in the direction of the president, killing one man in the crowd and seriously injuring two others.

It remained unclear whether a bullet hit or grazed Trump, or what exactly caused his right ear to pool with blood and streak across his face.

“He was in amazing spirits,” Kernan tweeted after he spoke by phone with the former president, who is scheduled to accept the GOP Party’s official nomination for president this week, just days after the shooting at his campaign rally in Pennsylvania on Saturday.

Kernan was among a list of 54 celebrities who appeared on Trump’s personal contacts list that surfaced during his hush money trial in Manhattan.

Kernan also said the president was “gratified by all the encouragement and support” he has received from officials in both parties.