Former U.S. president Donald Trump plans to return Saturday to the site where a gunman tried to assassinate him in July, setting aside what are now near-constant worries for his physical safety in order to fulfill a promise — “really an obligation,†he said recently — to the people of Butler, Pa.
“I'll probably start off by saying, ‘As I was saying ...’†the Republican presidential nominee has joked, in a bit of black humor about a speech cut short when a bullet struck Trump's ear and he was whisked off stage — fist aloft — with blood dripping across his face.
Trump's running mate, Ohio Sen. JD Vance, also will be on hand at the Butler Farm Show grounds, as will billionaire Elon Musk, as the campaign elevates the headline-generating potential of his return with just 30 days to go in their tight campaign against Democratic U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz.
The campaign is predicting tens of thousands of people will attend what is being pitched as a "tribute to the American spirit.†Local hotels, motels and inns are reportedly full and some eager rallygoers were already arriving Friday, according to a local Facebook page.
“President Trump looks forward to returning to Butler, Pennsylvania to honor the victims from that tragic day," said Trump campaign spokesperson Karoline Leavitt. "The willingness of Pennsylvanians to join President Trump in his return to Butler represents the strength and resiliency of the American people.â€
Trump will use the 5 p.m. Eastern time event to remember Corey 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.
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 myriad questions that remain unanswered about the worst Secret Service security failure in decades. Another is his motive, which has never been determined.
Butler County District Attorney Rich Goldinger told WPXI-TV this week that “everyone is doubling down on their efforts to make sure this is done safely and correctly.â€
Mike Slupe, the county sheriff, told the station he estimates the U.S. Secret Service — which has undergone a painful reckoning over its handling of two attempts on Trump’s life — is deploying â€quadruple the assets†it did in July.
Butler County, on the western edge of a coveted presidential swing state, is a Trump stronghold. He won the county — where turnout hovers around an impressive 80 per cent — with about 66 per cent of the vote in both 2016 and 2020. About 57 per cent of Butler County’s 139,000 registered voters are Republicans, compared with about 29 per cent who are Democrats and 14 per cent something else.
Three months later, townspeople are divided over the value of his return. Heidi Priest, a Butler resident who started a Facebook group supporting Harris, said Trump's last visit fanned political tensions in the city.
“Whenever you see people supporting him and getting excited about him being here, it scares the people who don’t want to see him reelected,†she said.
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.
Dan Beasley of Northville, Mich., prays with Sue Hensal of Akron, Ohio, before Republican presidential nominee former U.S. president Donald Trump speaks at a campaign rally at the Butler Farm Show, Saturday, Oct. 5, 2024, in Butler, Pa. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
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Fedaa Nassar says any time she has heard the phone ring in the last year, she becomes overwhelmed with anxiety.
Police have arrested a Toronto woman in connection with three recent homicides and investigators say that they believe two of the victims may have been 'randomly targeted.'
The body of a British Columbia mountain climber has been located and recovered after the 39-year-old man was reported missing during a solo climb on Washington state's Mount Baker earlier this week.
A Saskatchewan man living in the United States has pleaded guilty to possessing child pornography after he unknowingly provided disturbing videos to an FBI agent he thought was a pedophile.
Melissa Duff-Shore, a Cambridge, Ont. woman who killed her daughter in 2020, has been ordered to a forensic hospital in St. Thomas.
Canadian musician Jacob Hoggard has been found not guilty of sexually assaulting a young woman in northeastern Ontario eight years ago. The former Hedley frontman had pleaded not guilty to sexual assault.
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In case you missed it, Â鶹´«Ã½ London has gathered all of the top local stories from this week into one video for your convenience.
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In case you missed it, Â鶹´«Ã½ Windsor has compiled all of the top local stories from this week into one video.
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