Trump told his former White House doctor he would have been shot 'right in the head' if he hadn't turned to look at an immigration statistics chart

• Trying to get a better look at an immigration statistics chart might have saved Donald Trump's life.
• The former president was nearly assassinated on Saturday during a rally in Pennsylvania.

Former President Donald Trump might have lost his life on Saturday if he hadn't tilted his head to look at an immigration statistics chart.

Trump had a close brush with death during a campaign rally in Pennsylvania. A gunman tried to assassinate the presumptive GOP nominee but failed.

The suspect was shot dead by a Secret Service sniper shortly after.

"I knew immediately that something was wrong in that I heard a whizzing sound, shots, and immediately felt the bullet ripping through the skin," Trump said in a Truth Social post on Saturday.

But things could've been so much different, according to Texas Rep. Ronny Jackson, who said he spoke to Trump a few hours after the shooting.

Jackson, who used to be Trump's White House doctor, recounted the conversation with The New York Times in a report published Sunday.

"He goes, 'The border patrol saved my life,'" Jackson told the outlet. "He said, 'If I hadn't pointed at that chart and turned my head to look at it, that bullet would have hit me right in the head.'"

Trump, who was left wounded by the attack, said on Saturday that a bullet had "pierced the upper part of my right ear."

Although Trump managed to survive, the bullets were still deadly. The Secret Service said that one rallygoer died in the attack while two others were left critically injured.

"I'm not supposed to be here, I'm supposed to be dead," Trump told the New York Post on Sunday. "By luck or by God, many people are saying it's by God, I'm still here."

Photographs from the event showed just how close the bullet came to ending Trump's life, striking the top of his right ear as it went past his head.

Secret Service agents rushed onto the stage to shield Trump amid gunfire. As he was led offstage, Trump was pictured raising his fist in defiance, his face streaked with blood, as he shouted: "Fight."

"A lot of people say it's the most iconic photo they've ever seen," Trump told the outlet. "They're right and I didn't die. Usually you have to die to have an iconic picture."

He added to the Post: "I just wanted to keep speaking, but I just got shot."

The bullets seriously injured two men and killed Corey Comperatore, a rally attendee who died shielding his family from the bullets. Secret Service snipers killed the gunman.

In the Post interview, Trump praised his supporters for remaining calm during the shooting.

"I love them. They are such great people," he said.

Representatives for Trump didn't immediately respond to a request for comment from Business Insider sent outside regular business hours.