By Steve Holland
BUTLER, Pennsylvania (Reuters) – Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump returned on Saturday to the rural Pennsylvania site where he was nearly assassinated, drawing a large crowd in the critical battleground state a month before the US election. November 5.
“As I was saying,” Trump said as he appeared on stage, pretending to resume the speech that was interrupted when a bullet grazed his ear on July 13.
Midway through his speech, Trump called on stage a powerful ally, Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla (NASDAQ 🙂 and owner of the social media platform former president after July 13.
Musk literally jumped on stage with his arms raised.
“The true test of someone’s character is how they behave under fire,” Musk said, calling the election a “Trump must-win situation” and urging people to register to vote.
“Be a pest to everyone you know,” Musk said.
Trump greeted firefighter Corey Comperatore, who was shot and killed by the shooter, and two other people who were wounded.
At 6:11 p.m., the exact time gunfire erupted on July 13, Trump called for a moment of silence. A bell then rang four times, once for each of the four victims, including Trump.
In his speech, Trump suggested darkly and without evidence that facing “an enemy within” more dangerous than a foreign adversary. Of the gunman, he said that “a cold-blooded killer tried to silence me” but “he didn’t stop our movement.”
The crowd appeared to number in the tens of thousands, many of them wearing Trump badges. Some chanted the “fight, fight, fight” slogan that Trump used to rally his supporters moments after he was shot.
“We’re here to say you can’t intimidate us, you can’t stop us,” Ohio Republican Sen. JD (NASDAQ:) Vance, Trump’s vice presidential running mate, told the crowd.
Vance rejected the argument from Vice President Kamala Harris and other Democrats that Trump represents a threat to democracy.
“Donald Trump took a bullet for democracy. What the hell have you done?” Vance said.
People cheered as Trump’s plane flew over the rally before landing as speakers played the theme song from the movie “Top Gun.”
Trailers were lined up around the scene as a protective measure to block the surrounding view, including the building where the shooter had opened fire.
To add to the carnival atmosphere, three skydivers with American flags flying behind them launched and landed near the building.
July 13 was the first of two attempts on Trump’s life. On September 15, a gunman hid undetected for nearly 12 hours at Trump’s golf course in West Palm Beach, Florida, with plans to kill him, prosecutors said, but was thwarted by a Secret Service agent. United States patrolling the field in front of Trump.
Republican officials hope Trump’s return to Butler will boost turnout among his most die-hard supporters in Pennsylvania, a state he and his Democratic opponent, Kamala Harris, see as crucial to winning on Nov. 5.
“I’m going back to Butler because I feel like I have an obligation to go back to Butler,” Trump told cable news network NewsNation earlier this week. “We never finished what we were supposed to do.”
The rally’s introductory speakers focused on remembering Comperatore, whose family members attended.
“We will not allow that tragic day to eclipse the light of our community,” said JD Longo, mayor of the nearby town of Slippery Rock.
The Butler shooting led to widespread criticism of the United States Secret Service and the resignation of its director.
Critics raised concerns about how the 20-year-old suspect, Thomas Matthew Crooks, was able to access a nearby rooftop with a direct line of sight to where Trump was speaking. Secret Service agents later shot Crooks to death.
A Secret Service investigation found gaps in communication and a lack of diligence before the shooting. The agency later approved additional security measures for Trump, including the use of bulletproof glass to protect him at outdoor rallies.
Secret Service spokesman Anthony Guglielmi said in a statement before Saturday’s rally that there had been “comprehensive changes and improvements to our communications capabilities, resources and protective operations.”
Trump credits saving his life by turning his head to read a graph on a large video. With blood dripping down his face, he raised his fist and shouted “fight” to his followers, a vivid image of that day. For the next few days he wore a white bandage on his injured ear.
“I love that graph,” Trump said when he appeared on screen Saturday. “Isn’t it beautiful?”