Donald Trump didn’t protect anyone

The phrase “taking a bullet” typically refers to a person deliberately putting himself in danger and suffering harm for some noble reason, such as to protect another person.

On the day of the attempted assassination of Donald Trump, firefighter Corey Comperatore was in the audience with his family and was killed as he deliberately used his body to shield his family from gunfire. With this courageous action, Comperatore “took a bullet” as the phrase is intended to mean.

That same day, Trump suffered a two-centimeter injury to his ear. It appears to have healed completely within two weeks. Most importantly, and in contrast to the fatal injury suffered by Comperatore, Trump’s injury was not the result of him deliberately placing himself in danger in order to protect someone else.

Nevertheless, Trump attempted to benefit politically and to glorify his ear injury by claiming at a recent rally in Michigan that he “took a bullet” for democracy. Trump’s self-laudatory and improper use of the phrase is a blatant insult to Comperatore’s family.

Clarification: This letter was edited to reflect the writer's belief that former President Donald Trump was struck by a bullet.