BUTLER, PA. -- Donald Trump returned on Saturday to the Pennsylvania fairgrounds where he was nearly assassinated in July, holding a sprawling rally with thousands of supporters in a critical swing state Trump hopes to return to his column in November's election.
The former president and Republican nominee picked up where he left off back in July when a gunman tried to assassinate him and struck his ear. As he had suggested he would for weeks beforehand, he began his speech with, 鈥淎s I was saying,鈥� and gestured toward an immigration chart that he was looking at when the gunfire began.
The Trump campaign wanted to maximize the event鈥檚 headline-grabbing potential with just 30 days to go in his race against his Democratic opponent U.S. Vice-President Kamala Harris. Trump said the assassin tried to silence him, calling him 鈥渁 vicious monster鈥� and saying he did not succeed by 鈥渂y the hand of providence and the grace of God.鈥�
One of the most expected guests of the evening was Elon Musk, who climbed onto the stage on Saturday jumping and pumping his fists in the air after Trump introduced him as a 鈥済reat gentleman鈥� and said he 鈥渟aved free speech.鈥�
鈥淧resident Trump must win to preserve the Constitution. He must win to preserve democracy in America,鈥� said Musk, who endorsed Trump after the assassination attempt. 鈥淭his is a must-win situation.鈥�
Musk, who bought Twitter and rebranded it as X and has pushed into conservative politics, met with Trump and Vance backstage, donning a black 鈥淢ake America Great Again鈥� hat. A billboard on the way into the rally said, 鈥淚N MUSK WE TRUST,鈥� and showed his photo.
Earlier on Saturday, Trump's running mate, Ohio Sen. JD Vance, got on stage and reflected on the events that day while severely criticizing Democrats for calling Trump 鈥渁 threat to democracy,鈥� saying that kind of language is 鈥渋nflammatory."
"You heard the shots. You saw the blood. We all feared the worst. But you knew everything would be OK when President Trump raised his fist high in the air and shouted, 鈥楩ight, fight!鈥�" said Vance, who was chosen as his vice-presidential nominee less than two days later. 鈥淣ow I believe it as sure as I鈥檓 standing here today that what happened was a true miracle.鈥�
Crowds were lined up as the sun rose Saturday. A memorial for firefighter Corey Comperatore, who died as he shielded family members from gunfire, was set up in the bleachers, his fireman's jacket set up on display surrounded by flowers. His sisters were crying as speakers mentioned him. There was a very visible heightened security presence, with armed law enforcers in camouflage uniforms on roofs.
Trump鈥檚 plane did flybys over the venue before his arrival, drawing cheers from those gathered on the field below. As spectators spotted Trump鈥檚 plane overhead, cellphones popped into the air.
Trump planned to use the event to remember Comperatore, a volunteer firefighter struck and killed at the July 13 rally, and to recognize the two other rallygoers injured, David Dutch and James Copenhaver. They and Trump were struck when 20-year-old shooter Thomas Matthew Crooks of Bethel Park, Pa., opened fire from an unsecured rooftop nearby before he was fatally shot by sharpshooters.
The building from which Crooks fired was completely obscured by tractor trailers, a large grassy perimeter and a fence. Most bleachers were now at the sides, rather than behind Trump.
How Crooks managed to outmaneuver law enforcement that day and scramble on top of a building within easy shooting distance of the ex-president is among many questions that remain unanswered about the worst Secret Service security failure in decades. Another is his motive.
Butler County District Attorney Rich Goldinger told WPXI-TV this week that 鈥渆veryone is doubling down on their efforts to make sure this is done safely and correctly.鈥�
Mike Slupe, the county sheriff, told the station he estimates the Secret Service, was deploying 鈥漲uadruple the assets鈥� it did in July. The agency has undergone a painful reckoning over its handling of two attempts on Trump鈥檚 life.
Butler County, on the western edge of a coveted presidential swing state, is a Trump stronghold. He won the county with about 66 per cent of the vote in both 2016 and 2020. About 57 per cent of the county鈥檚 139,000 registered voters are Republicans, compared with about 29 per cent who are Democrats and 14 per cent something else.
Chris Harpster, 30, of Tyrone, Pa., was accompanied by his girlfriend on Saturday as he returned to the scene. Of July 13, he said, 鈥淚 was afraid鈥� -- as were his parents, watching at home, who texted him immediately after the shots rang out.
Heightened security measures were making him feel better now, as well as the presence of his girlfriend, a first-time rallygoer. Harpster said he will be a third-time Trump voter in November, based on the Republican nominee鈥檚 stances on immigration, guns, abortion and energy. Harpster said he hopes Pennsylvania will go Republican, particularly out of concern over gas and oil industry jobs.
Other townspeople were divided over the value of Trump's return. Heidi Priest, a Butler resident who started a Facebook group supporting Harris, said Trump's last visit fanned political tensions in the city.
鈥淲henever you see people supporting him and getting excited about him being here, it scares the people who don鈥檛 want to see him reelected,鈥� she said.
Terri Palmquist came from Bakersfield, California, and said her 18-year old daughter tried to dissuade her. 鈥淚 just figure we need to not let fear control us. That鈥檚 what the other side wants is fear. If fear controls us, we lose,鈥� she said.
She said she was not worried about her own safety.
鈥淗onesty, I believe God鈥檚 got Trump, for some reason. I do. So we鈥檙e rooting for him.鈥�
But Trump needs to drive up voter turnout in conservative strongholds like Butler County, an overwhelmingly white, rural-suburban community, if he wants to win Pennsylvania in November. Harris, too, has targeted her campaign efforts at Pennsylvania, rallying there repeatedly as part of her aggressive outreach in critical swing states. ___
Gomez Licon reported from Fort Lauderdale, Fla.
