In a live conversation on X with billionaire CEO Elon Musk, former US President Donald Trump recounted his experience of the recent shooting incident at a campaign rally, describing it as a “hard hit” and “surreal.” The discussion, which aired Monday night, was delayed due to a technical glitch and a cyberattack.

When asked by Musk about the shooting, Trump described the experience as “not pleasant,” recounting the moment he felt the bullet hit his ear.”It was a hard hit. It was very, I guess you would say, surreal, but it wasn’t surreal,” Trump said. He continued, “I knew immediately that it was a bullet. The only question in my mind when I went down was, ‘How many were killed?'”
Trump was on stage at a Pennsylvania rally on July 13 when gunshots rang out, prompting Secret Service agents to intervene. Hours after the incident, Trump reported that the bullet had pierced the upper part of his right ear. The FBI has identified the shooter as Thomas Matthew Crooks, 20, from Bethel Park, Pennsylvania.
Musk’s endorsement and technical difficulties
Musk revealed that he endorsed Trump’s presidential campaign in part due to Trump’s reaction during the rally. “Trump pumping his fists was just incredibly inspiring,” Musk said.
The live stream of the conversation faced significant disruptions. Initially scheduled for 8 pm ET, the event was delayed to 8:42 pm ET due to a distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attack that overwhelmed X’s servers. Musk explained that the attack “saturated hundreds of gigabits of data,” making the platform nearly inaccessible for users.
During the technical difficulties, users on X encountered issues accessing the livestream. Trending hashtags like “crashed” and “#TwitterBlackout” reflected widespread frustration as users faced error messages and screen outages.
Despite the disruptions, the interview provided a stark reflection on the impact of the shooting and the ongoing challenges of digital security in high-profile broadcasts.