BUTLER, Pa. — BUTLER, Pa. (AP) — Donald Trump returned Saturday to the Pennsylvania fairgrounds where he was nearly killed in July, holding an elaborate rally before a huge crowd in a critical swing state. Trump hopes to return to his motorcade in the November elections.
The former president and Republican candidate picked up where he left off in July when a gunman attempted to do so kill him and hit his ear. He began his speech with, “As I said,” and gestured to a immigration chart which he was looking at when the gunfire started.
The Trump campaign has done everything it can to maximize the event’s high potential for making headlines 30 days to go and voting is already underway in some states in his race against his Democratic opponent, Vice President Kamala Harris. Musician Lee Greenwood appeared on stage and serenaded him with “God Bless the USA,” which was often played at his rallies, and billionaire Elon Musk spoke for the first time at a Trump rally.
“We fought together. We persevered together. We moved forward together,” Trump said. “And here in Pennsylvania we bled together. We bled.”
Trump needs that increase voter turnout in conservative strongholds like Butler County, a predominantly white suburban community, if he wants to win Pennsylvania in November. Harris has also focused her campaign efforts on Pennsylvania, rallying there repeatedly as part of her aggressive push in critical swing states.
At the start of the rally, Trump asked for a moment of silence in honor of the firefighter Corey Comperatorewho died protecting family members from gunfire. Opera singer Christopher Macchio sang “Ave Maria” after a bell rang on July 13 at the same time the gunfire began.
Standing behind protective glass that now envelops the stage at his outdoor rallies, Trump called the would-be killer “a vicious monster” and said he had failed “by the hand of providence and the grace of God.” There was a highly visible increased security presence, with armed law enforcement officers in camouflage uniforms on the rooftops.
One of the evening’s most anticipated guests was Musk, who took the stage on Saturday, jumping and pumping his fists in the air, after Trump introduced him as a “great gentleman” and said he had “saved free speech.”
“President Trump must win to preserve the Constitution. He must win to preserve democracy in America,” said Musk, who supported Trump after the assassination attempt. “This is a must-win situation.”
Musk, who bought Twitter and renamed it X and embraced conservative politics, met Trump and Vance backstage, wearing a black “Make America Great Again” hat. A billboard on the way to the meeting read, “IN MUSK WE TRUST,” and showed his photo.
Earlier on Saturday, Trump’s running mate, Ohio Sen. J.D. Vancetook the stage and reflected on the day’s events, severely criticizing Democrats for calling Trump “a threat to democracy” and saying such language was “inflammatory.”
“You heard the shots. You saw the blood. We all feared the worst. But you knew everything was going to be okay when President Trump raised his fist high in the air and shouted, ‘Fight, fight!'” said Vance, who was selected. as his vice presidential candidate less than two days later. “Now I believe as surely as I stand here today that what happened was a true miracle.”
When the sun rose on Saturday, there were people in line. A huge crowd full of bleachers, folding chairs and the vast field that stretched to the edges of the hall. Hotels, motels and inns in the area were said to be full and some rally goers arrived on Friday.
Much of the crowd waited for Trump for several hours. About half an hour into his speech, Trump interrupted his speech for more than five minutes after a participant had a medical problem and needed a doctor.
Trump used the event to commemorate Comperatore, the volunteer firefighter who was struck and killed at the July 13 rally, and to recognize the two other injured rallygoers, David Dutch and James Copenhaver. She and Trump were struck when 20-year-old gunman Thomas Matthew Crooks of Bethel Park, Pennsylvania, opened fire from an unsecured rooftop nearby before being fatally shot by snipers.
The building from which Crooks shot was completely obscured by tractors, a large grassy perimeter and a fence. Most of the stands were now on the sides, instead of behind Trump.
How Crooks managed to outwit law enforcement officers that day and clamber onto a building within striking distance of the ex-president is one of the many questions that remain unanswered about the Secret Service’s worst security failure in decades. Another is his motive.
Butler County District Attorney Rich Goldinger told WPXI-TV this week that “everyone is redoubling their efforts to make sure this is done safely and correctly.”
Mike Slupe, the county sheriff, told the station that he estimates the Secret Service has “quadrupled the resources” it had in July. The agency has suffered a painful reckoning over its handling of two attempts on Trump’s life.
Butler County, on the western edge of a coveted presidential swing state, is a Trump stronghold. He won the county with about 66% of the vote in both 2016 and 2020. About 57% of the county’s 139,000 registered voters are Republicans, compared to about 29% Democrats and 14% something else.
Chris Harpster, 30, from Tyrone, Pennsylvania, was accompanied by his girlfriend when he returned to the scene on Saturday. On July 13, he said, “I was scared” — as were his parents, watching at home, who texted him immediately after the shots rang out.
The increased security measures made him feel better now, as did the presence of his girlfriend, who was attending the rally for the first time. Harpster said he will vote for Trump for a third time in November, based on the Republican candidate’s positions on immigration, guns, abortion and energy. Harpster said he hopes Pennsylvania will turn Republican, mainly out of concern about jobs in the gas and oil industries.
Other townspeople were divided about the value of Trump’s return. Heidi Priest, a Butler resident who started a Facebook group supporting Harris, said Trump’s latest visit has fueled political tensions in the city.
“Any time you see people supporting him and getting excited about his presence, it scares the people who don’t want him to be re-elected,” she said.
Terri Palmquist came from Bakersfield, California, and said her 18-year-old daughter tried to discourage her. “I just don’t think we should let fear control us. That’s what the other side wants: fear. When fear controls us, we lose,” she said.
She said she was not concerned about her own safety.
“Honestly, I believe God has Trump for some reason. I do. So we’re keeping our fingers crossed for him.”
___
Gomez Licon reported from Fort Lauderdale, Florida.