Donald Trump returned to Butler, Pennsylvania for the first time since the fatal shooting at one of his rallies on July 13th claimed the life of one attendee, injured several others, and left the former president with a bullet wound on his right ear. Trump reenacted the now-famous photo of his fist elevated in the air, cloaked by secret service, and his injured ear dripping with blood. His return to Butler marked his latest rally in the heavily contested battleground state whose 19 electoral votes could determine the next president.
Trump and the crowd paid tribute to fallen firefighter Corey Comperatore, who was the lone fatality. Trump also took a familiarly combative tone as the rally continued.
“I will never quit, I will never bend, I will never break. I will never yield – not even in the face of death itself,” said the 78-year-old former president and Republican nominee. “A cold-blooded assassin tried to silence the greatest movement – MAGA – in the history of this country.”
It was a consistent tone for Trump, who has sought to energize his base and use the two assassination attempts he’s faced as a reminder of the stakes of the election, a tactic Kamala Harris has also used. Trump and running mate J.D. Vance have both blamed rhetoric from democrats for the attacks on his life, a sentiment that was echoed at the Butler rally.
Rallygoers came to see Trump’s return, though some admitted to feeling trepidation about returning to the site of the shooting. But most braved the circumstances.
“We had some hesitation about coming,” said one attendee to NPR. “But we absolutely believe that God was looking over him because of the angel.” Some attendees used the shape of a flag hanging above the stage on July 13th as divine intervention, saying it looked like an angel when it bent in the wind. “If God was looking after him then, he’d be looking after him now,” the attendee finished.
