BUTLER: With the highly-anticipated US presidential elections less than a month away, Republican candidate Donald Trump returned to his assassination attempt site as he addressed a large crowd in Pennsylvania during a rally also featuring tech billionaire Elon Musk.
“As I was saying,” said Trump as he appeared on stage, pretending he was resuming the speech that was interrupted when he was grazed in the ear by a bullet on July 13.
The former US president was targeted by Thomas Matthew Crooks with the latter being shot dead by the Secret Service personnel.
During the Pennsylvania rally, Trump saluted firefighter Corey Comperatore, who was shot and killed by the shooter, and two other people who were wounded in the shooting.
At 6:11pm, the exact time when gunfire erupted on July 13, the former president called for a moment of silence. A bell then tolled four times, once for each of the four victims, including Trump.
In his speech, the Republican presidential candidate hinted darkly without evidence about facing “an enemy from within” more dangerous than a foreign adversary. Of the gunman, he said “a cold-blooded assassin aimed to silence me” but “did not stop our movement”.
The crowd appeared to be in the tens of thousands, many wearing Trump regalia. Some chanted the “fight, fight, fight” slogan Trump used to rally his followers moments after he was shot.
“We’re here to say, we can’t be intimidated, we can’t be stopped,” Ohio Republican Senator JD 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?” said Vance.
People cheered when Trump’s plane did a flyby over the rally prior to landing as the loudspeakers played the “Top Gun” movie theme song.
Trailers were lined up around the site as a protective measure to block the surrounding view including the building where the shooter had opened fire.
Republican officials hope Trump’s return to Butler will drive up turnout for him among hard-core supporters in Pennsylvania, a state he and his Democratic opponent, Kamala Harris, see as crucial to winning on November 5.
“I’m going back to Butler because I feel I have an obligation to go back to Butler,” Trump told the NewsNation cable news network earlier this week.
“We never finished what we were supposed to do,” he remarked.
Furthermore, the presidential candidate, during his speech, called up on stage a powerful ally, Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla and owner of social media platform X. It was his first time at a Trump campaign event since he endorsed the former president after July 13.
“The true test of someone’s character is how they behave under fire,” said Musk as he termed the election a “must-win situation” for Trump and urged the crowd to register to vote.