Donald Trump returned to the place where a man attempted to shoot him dead in July.
“Tonight, I return to Butler after tragedy and with a pang in my heart to deliver a simple message to the people of Pennsylvania and the American people,” Mr. Trump said. Our movement to make America great again is stronger, prouder, more united, more determined and closer to victory than ever before. »
On July 13, a man shot and killed Mr. Trump, but only hit his ear. The former president then raised his fist and shouted “Fight!” » before being carried away with blood on his face.
The Republican presidential candidate’s campaign still wanted to maximize the media potential of the event just 30 days before the end of his race against his Democratic opponent, Vice President Kamala Harris.
Mr Trump claimed the assassin had tried to silence him, calling him a “vicious monster” and saying he had not succeeded “by the hand of providence and the grace of God”.
One of the most anticipated guests of the evening was Elon Musk, who jumped on stage and raised his fists in the air after Mr. Trump introduced him as a “great gentleman” and said that he had “saved freedom of expression”.
“President Trump must win to preserve the Constitution. He must win to preserve democracy in America,” said Elon Musk, who supported Mr. Trump after the assassination attempt. “It’s a must-win situation. »
Mr. Musk, who bought Twitter and renamed it Trump and Vance backstage, wearing a black “Make America Great Again” hat. A billboard on the way to the rally read “IN MUSK WE TRUST” and showed his photo.
Earlier, Mr Trump’s running mate, Ohio Senator JD Vance, took the stage at the Butler Farm Show to speak in front of the former president and discussed the events of that day while harshly criticizing Democrats for calling Mr. Trump a “threat to democracy,” saying such language is “provocative.”
“You heard the gunshots. You saw the blood. We all feared the worst. But you knew everything was going to be okay when President Trump pumped his fist in the air and shouted, “Fight, fight!” “, said Mr. Vance, who was chosen as vice-presidential candidate less than two days later.
“Now I believe as firmly as I stand here today that what happened was a true miracle. »
Filled land
A massive crowd stood from the stage to the press box several hundred yards away at the event billed as a “tribute to the American spirit.” Area hotels, motels and inns were full, and some rally participants arrived Friday.
The crowds were lined up from sunrise on Saturday. A memorial for volunteer firefighter Corey Comperatore, who died while protecting his family members from gunfire, was installed in the stands. His firefighter jacket on display was surrounded by flowers. His sisters cried as speakers paid tribute to him. There was a very visible heavy security presence, with armed law enforcement in camouflage uniforms on the rooftops.
Mr. Trump’s plane flew over the event venue before his arrival, sparking cheers from those gathered on the field below.
Former President Trump had planned to use the event to honor Mr. Comperatore and the two other injured July 13 participants, David Dutch and James Copenhaver. They were hit, like Mr. Trump, when the 20-year-old gunman, Thomas Matthew Crooks, of Bethel Park, Pennsylvania, opened fire from a nearby unsecured roof before being fatally shot by gunmen. elite.
The building Crooks fired from was completely hidden by tractor-trailers, a large grassy perimeter and a fence. Most of the stands were now to the sides, rather than behind Mr. Trump.
How Crooks managed to outwit law enforcement that day and climb to the top of a building within firing range of the ex-president is one of many unanswered questions about the Worst Secret Service security failure in decades.
Butler County Prosecutor Rich Goldinger told WPXI this week that “everyone is stepping up their efforts to make sure this is done safely and properly.”
Mike Slupe, the county sheriff, told the station he estimated the Secret Service was deploying “four times as many assets” as it did in July. The agency suffered a painful reckoning over its handling of two assassination attempts against Mr. Trump.
Butler County, on the western edge of a hotly contested presidential state, is a Donald Trump stronghold. He won the county with about 66% of the vote in 2016 and 2020. About 57% of the county’s 139,000 registered voters are Republican, compared to about 29% who are Democrats and 14% other.