Pennsylvania: Former US President Donald Trump narrowly survived an assassination attempt with minor injuries, an incident the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (Iskcon) attributes to divine intervention by Lord Jagannath, whose nine-day long Rath Yatra festival is currently going on.
The spokesperson for Iskcon, Radharamn Das, linked the event to Trump’s historical association with the first Rath Yatra in New York 48 years ago, where Trump reportedly assisted devotees. “Yes, for sure it’s a divine intervention. Exactly 48 years ago, Donald Trump saved the Jagannath Rath Yatra festival. Today, as the world celebrates the Jagannath Rath Yatra festival again, Trump was attacked, and Jagannath returned the favour by saving him,” Das stated.
Das elaborated that in July 1976, Trump had helped Iskcon devotees by providing his train yard for the construction of the raths free of charge. “Today, as the world celebrates the 9-day Jagannath Rath Yatra festival, this terrible attack on him and his narrow escape show Jagannath’s intervention,” Das wrote in a post on X.
He further recounted the challenges faced by Iskcon in organizing the first Rath Yatra in New York City, highlighting Trump’s crucial support. “Nearly 48 years ago, when the International Society for Krishna Consciousness was planning to organize the first Rath Yatra in New York City, challenges were galore. While the grant of a parade permit at the Fifth Avenue was nothing short of a miracle, finding a huge empty site where chariots could be built was also never going to be easy. They knocked at the doors of every person possible, but in vain. It was then that the former US President Donald Trump emerged as a ray of hope for the Krishna devotees,” Das detailed.
The assassination attempt occurred during an election rally in Pennsylvania, where Trump, the Republican nominee for the upcoming presidential election, sustained an injury to his right ear but escaped major harm.