Trump appears before large crowd at site of assassination attempt in Pennsylvania
Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump made a dramatic return on Saturday to the site where he narrowly escaped an assassination attempt on July 13, addressing a crowd of tens of thousands in a pivotal battleground state just one month before the November 5 election.
Opening his speech, Trump humorously resumed where he left off during his interrupted address on that fateful day. “As I was saying,” he quipped, referring to the moment a bullet grazed his ear.
In a surprising move, Trump invited tech mogul Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla and owner of the social media platform X, to join him on stage. This marked Musk’s first public appearance at a Trump event since endorsing him post-attack. Musk energetically leapt onto the stage, declaring, “The true test of someone’s character is how they behave under fire,” and emphasizing the importance of voter registration. “Be a pest to everyone you know,” he urged the enthusiastic crowd.
During the rally, Trump honored firefighter Corey Comperatore, who lost his life in the incident, and recognized two others who were injured. At 6:11 p.m., the exact moment gunfire erupted on July 13, Trump led a moment of silence, marked by four tolls of a bell for the victims.
Trump’s speech took a darker tone as he suggested an “enemy from within” poses a greater threat than any foreign adversary, referring to the shooter as a “cold-blooded assassin” who aimed to silence him but failed to stop his movement. The crowd erupted in chants of “fight, fight, fight,” a rallying cry from moments after the attack.
Ohio Republican Senator JD Vance, Trump’s vice presidential pick, echoed this sentiment, asserting to the crowd, “We’re here to say, we can’t be intimidated, we can’t be stopped,” while dismissing claims from Democrats, including Vice President Kamala Harris, that Trump poses a threat to democracy.
Trump reflected on the day of the shooting, crediting his quick decision to turn and read a chart on a video screen with saving his life. “I love that chart,” he remarked, praising it as “beautiful” while recalling the chaos of that day, which left him with visible injuries.
As the rally concluded, the atmosphere remained charged with a blend of resilience and defiance, showcasing Trump’s unyielding support in a crucial electoral landscape.
