Donald Trump’s chances of winning the election soar after shooting

Donald Trump’s chances of winning the 2024 presidential election have significantly increased following Saturday’s assassination attempt, according to major bookmakers.

A gunman opened fire at a rally for President Donald Trump near Butler, Pennsylvania on Saturday, killing one person and seriously wounding two others, a Secret Service spokesman said.

Broadcast footage of the event showed Trump being hit in the right ear, leaving him bleeding, then surrounded by Secret Service agents and defiantly escorted off the stage with his fists raised. The suspect, identified by the FBI as 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks, was shot and killed in return fire.

Before Saturday’s assassination attempt, Trump had an 8-in-15 (65.2%) chance of winning the 2024 presidential election, according to UK-based betting company William Hill. But after the shooting, Trump’s odds of winning dropped to 4-in-11 (73.3%).

Newsweek Representatives for Trump’s and Joe Biden’s 2024 presidential campaigns were reached for comment via email outside of normal working hours on Sunday.

Reacting to the shooting on his website Truth Social, President Trump offered his condolences to the families of the victims and added, “I can’t believe something like this could happen in our country. At this point we don’t know anything about the perpetrator. He is deceased. I was shot above my right ear.”

“I heard a whoosh and a gunshot and felt the bullets going through my skin so I knew right away something was wrong. I was bleeding profusely and realized what was going on. God Bless America!”

Biden condemned the attack in a post on his Twitter handle, formerly known as X, writing, “Receiving reports of gunfire at a Donald Trump rally in Pennsylvania.”

“We are pleased to hear he is safe and well. As we await further information, we are praying for him, his family and all those who were at the vigil.”

“Jill and I are grateful to the Secret Service for getting him to safety. This kind of violence has no place in America, and we must come together as a country to condemn it.”

according to ParentsCrooks, who authorities are treating as a “person of interest” in the shooting, is a registered Republican voter in Pennsylvania but donated $15 in 2021 to a left-leaning political action committee.

Shortly after Saturday’s shooting, Tesla CEO and X owner Elon Musk endorsed Trump, later adding that “the last time America had a candidate that tough was Theodore Roosevelt.”

Greg Smith, a Trump supporter outside the rally, told the BBC he saw a man with a rifle crawling on a rooftop before the shooting and tried to call the authorities.

He said: “We noticed a man crawling up the roof of a neighboring building about 50 feet away. He had a rifle. We could clearly see the rifle.”

“We were pointing at him. The police were running around below and we were like, ‘Hey, there’s a guy on the roof with a rifle’ … but the police had no idea what was going on.”