WASHINGTON — White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt believes “evil forces” were working against President Trump on the campaign trail — but that he was “saved by the grace of God” when he was shot during a rally.
Leavitt told the Christian Broadcasting Network in an interview released Monday that she believes in “spiritual warfare.”
“I think that the president was saved by the grace of God on July 13th in Butler, Pennsylvania, and he’s in this moment for a reason,” Leavitt said of the failed assassination attempt that wounded Trump, killed rally-goer Corey Comperatore and wounded two others.
“We’re all here for a reason. And I think it’s a miraculous thing that has taken place in our country,” the press secretary added.
The president has also credited God for saving his life at the Butler rally, beginning when he accepted the Republican presidential nomination five days after the shooting with a white bandage still covering his ear.
“None of us knows God’s plan, or where life’s adventure will take us. But if the events of last Saturday make anything clear, it is that every single moment we have on Earth is a gift from God. We have to make the most of every day for the people and country we love,” Trump told a rapt audience in Milwaukee.
The following month, Trump told Elon Musk that the bullet “hit me at an angle that was far less destructive than any other angle.”
“So that was the miracle — so those people who don’t believe in God, I think we got to all start thinking about that.”
The then-candidate added that near-death experience had made him “more of a believer.”
“You know, I’m a believer. Now I’m more of a believer, I think. And a lot of people have said that to me. A lot of great people have said that to me, actually. But it was amazing that I happened to be turned just at that perfect angle.”
A senior law enforcement source told The Post at the time that Trump “came within inches of having his face shot open,” but was spared when he turned his head at the last second to read from a chart of illegal immigration figures under then-President Joe Biden.
Trump has also credited the chart with saving his life and said that he could “sleep with that chart for the rest of my life.”
The president was raised and confirmed in his mother’s Presbyterian faith, but in 2020 said he considered himself to be a non-denominational Christian.
