Pastor and author Greg Laurie says he is praying that Saturday’s assassination attempt will mark a “turning point” in former President Donald Trump’s life, leading him to a deeper faith. The senior pastor of Harvest Christian Fellowship in California made the remarks on TBN’s Stakelbeck Tonight, saying he believes God intervened to save Trump’s life. The bullet clipped Trump’s ear and was less than half an inch from piercing his skull.

“I just watched a documentary on President Reagan. And as you recall, not long after he became our president, he was shot,” Laurie said. “... And he went into the hospital, and he came very close to dying. And that was a turning point in Reagan’s life, where he made a commitment to peace and abolishing nuclear weapons. And he had a new determination. And his faith in God grew dramatically -- faith passed on to him by his mother that came to life in his life later on, after a traumatic event.”

Laurie prays the same thing happens to Trump. Laurie’s comments were first reported by Church Leaders.

“So with President Trump, publicly acknowledging that it was God that stepped in is very significant,” Laurie said, referencing the former president’s comments after he survived. “... If he had just turned his head forward, he would probably be gone, and we would have seen something like we saw in Dallas with President Kennedy -- but just the fact that he turned his head and that bullet whizzed by.

“I pray that this is a turning point with President Trump,” Laurie said. “I’ve been in the Oval Office with him on two occasions where we prayed for him, and I’ve been with him in a number of other settings. …Whenever someone says, ‘Can we pray for you, Mr. President?’ -- he always says, ‘Yes, please,’ he bows his head. So I pray that this would be a deepening of his faith in Jesus Christ as his Savior and Lord.”


Laurie said that the close call “reminds us that God is sovereign over all things, and He can intervene, and no one can thwart or stop His plans.”

Meanwhile, Laurie lauded the heroism of 50-year-old Corey Comperatore, an ex-firefighter who was killed at the rally.

“He was also a committed Christian,” Laurie said. “And he literally laid his life down, placing his body over his family.”