An assassination attempt presumes the goal was to kill the candidate
Yes, but I'm not sure what you're suggesting. If it's that this was a deliberate miss (maybe to give Trump a boost) it seems implausible that anyone would plan to shoot from some distance, aiming so close to the candidate that the bullet clips his ear, but not killing him. If the aim were to miss deliberately then shooting that close to his head would risk the plan backfiring completely.
How did you determine his ear was hit by a bullet?
An assassination attempt presumes the goal was to kill the candidate
Yes, but I'm not sure what you're suggesting. If it's that this was a deliberate miss (maybe to give Trump a boost) it seems implausible that anyone would plan to shoot from some distance, aiming so close to the candidate that the bullet clips his ear, but not killing him. If the aim were to miss deliberately then shooting that close to his head would risk the plan backfiring completely.
How did you determine his ear was hit by a bullet?
I'm naively taking the reports at face value.