Leaked audio appears to reveal Donald Trump joking about Helen Comperatore, the widow of firefighter Corey Comperatore who was killed by the assassin who targeted Trump’s rally in Pennsylvania.
The leak comes ahead of Trump’s return to the location in Butler, Pennsylvania, where his life was attempted and Comperatore was killed this weekend.
During a speech in Aspen, Colorado on August 10, Trump was talking about how he had handed Helen Comperatore $1 million and raised money for the family on Gofundme when he told a joke.
“So they’re going to get millions of dollars, but the woman, the woman, this beautiful woman, I handed her the check – we handed her the check – and she said, ‘This is so nice, and I appreciate it, but I have a lot rather my husband.’ Now I know some of the women in this room wouldn’t say the same thing,” he said, laughing.
Trump then called out some members of the club who could potentially be the target of the joke, but made a point of excluding Texas Governor Greg Abbott, who was in attendance.
Leaked audio appears to reveal Donald Trump joking about Helen Comperatore, the widow of firefighter Corey Comperatore who was killed by the assassin who targeted Trump’s rally in Pennsylvania
The leak comes ahead of Trump’s return to the location in Butler, Pennsylvania, where an attempt was made on his life and Comperatore (pictured right with wife Helen) was murdered this weekend.
‘I know at least four couples. There are four couples, Governor [Abbott]I know that and you are not one of them. At least four couples here would have been happy.”
Trump previously told the joke at a rally in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, just weeks after the shooting.
The fundraiser is believed to have raised more than $12 million for Trump’s re-election campaign. The Guardian reports.
Trump vowed Tuesday to turn his return to the site of his assassination attempt into a celebration of Comperatore’s life.
He will appear before supporters in Butler, Pennsylvania, on Saturday.
“It’s going to be a really big event, and it’s going to be something,” Trump told reporters in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. “We will celebrate Corey’s life.”
But he gave no indication that he was nervous about returning to the spot where a bullet grazed his ear.
“Butler has become quite a well-known place,” he said. It’s like a monument.
Former US President and 2024 Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump kisses a helmet and fire jacket that belonged to Corey Comperatore
“Now people drive through the streets of Butler like it’s a monument.”
He said a GoFundMe appeal for Comperatore and other victims had raised $5 million. Most went to his widow, but two other injured supporters also received $1 million.
He said the event would be a chance to celebrate the emergency services, doctors and others who helped the injured.
“There are a lot of talented people in our country, so that will be exciting,” he said.
“And the question is: how am I going to start the speech?
“And I think I’m going to say, ‘Like I said,’ because that’s kind of where I was. I was very early.’
Trump has changed his campaign schedule since he was injured on July 13.
Most of his rallies have since been held indoors. Outside he now appears behind a thick bulletproof screen.
Trump said a GoFundMe appeal for Comperatore and other victims had raised $5 million. Most went to his widow, but two other injured supporters also received $1 million
Elon Musk will attend his meeting with Trump on Saturday.
‘I’ll be there to support!’ Musk wrote on his social platform X in a retweet on Thursday about Trump’s own promotion of the rally. The CEO of SpaceX and Tesla will be among the special guests, Trump’s campaign confirmed on Friday.
The event will mark the first time the billionaire businessman has publicly appeared at a campaign event for the former president since endorsing him.
The July approval came on the heels of the assassination attempt, with Musk writing on X: “I fully support President Trump and hope for his speedy recovery.”
Musk has boosted his support for Trump in recent months and has become more personally invested in politics — even pledging to lead a policy effort government efficiency committee if Trump wins re-election.
He also created a super PAC to support the Republican candidate, who has invested heavily in getting out the vote in the final months of the campaign.
Saturday’s rally will take place on the same grounds where a gunman’s bullets grazed Trump’s right ear and killed his supporter Comperatore. The shooting injured several others.
According to the campaign, several members of Comperatore’s family, as well as other attendees and first responders from the July rally, will join Trump on the farm show grounds on Saturday.
In addition to the former president, his running mate, Ohio Republican Sen. J.D. Vance, his son Eric Trump, his daughter-in-law and RNC co-chair Lara Trump, and several Pennsylvania lawmakers and sheriffs will appear, the campaign said.