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2 months ago
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Donald Trump on Saturday returns to the place where he survived an assassination attempt 12 weeks ago in what his campaign believes will be a launchpad to the White House.
The former president will triumphantly take the stage in front of a huge crowd at the Butler Farm Show grounds in Pennsylvania for what is expected to be a wild rally.
Trump has joked that he will begin by telling the crowd: 'As I was saying...'
Just minutes after he started speaking at the venue on July 13, gunman Thomas Crooks unleashed a hail of bullets, one of which grazed Trump on the right ear,
Donald Trump is seen with blood on his face surrounded by secret service agents as he is taken off the stage at a campaign event at Butler Farm Show Inc. in Butler, Pennsylvania, July 13, 2024
Elon Musk will be among those at the rally as Donald Trump goes back to Butler, Pennsylvania
Former Buffalo Township Fire Company Chief Corey Comperatore was killed, while rally-goers David Dutch and James Copenhaver were hospitalized with injuries.
U.S. Secret Service killed the 20-year-old shooter who had been able to scale a nearby roof amid a series of major security lapses.
After the shooting Trump pumped his fist and beseeched supporters to 'fight' as blood streaked his face.
In announcing his return to Butler, the Republican nominee said he planned to 'celebrate a unifying vision for America’s future in an event like the world has never seen before.'
A statue of Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump is set up on a truck ahead of a campaign event at the Butler Farm Show, Friday, Oct. 4, 2024, in Butler, Pa
The assassination attempt has resonated deeply in the mountainous community north of Pittsburgh.
Butler County, named after American Revolution hero General Richard Butler, has not voted Democrat since 1964.
Trump won the county by 38 points in 2016, but that slipped to 32 points in 2020.
It is just the kind of conservative stronghold where he needs to drive up voter turnout to win the state of Pennsylvania, which could ultimately decide the election against Kamala Harris.
Trump's campaign sees his return as an opportunity to seize the spotlight from Harris and boost enthusiasm among Republican ranks with a rally set to attract tens of thousands.
Bleachers are set up ahead of a campaign event for Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump at the Butler Farm Show, Friday, Oct. 4, 2024, in Butler, Pa
A detail of the ear on a sculpture of Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump in Butler, Pennsylvania
Earlier this week, Trump said he felt an 'obligation' to go back.
He said: 'We never finished what we were supposed to do. And I said that day when I was shot, I said we’re coming back, we’re going to come back.'
Many of the supporters who were there on July 13 will also return.
Jen Golbeck, a University of Maryland professor who monitors pro-Trump internet forums, told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: 'There is a pilgrimage sense at all the rallies, but this is going to be THE ONE.
'There are definitely people who feel like, and say to me, the hand of God has touched Trump.'
Trump has invited dozens of special guests including relatives of Corey Comperatore, to whom he will pay tribute.
Also there will be Elon Musk, who will be making his first public appearance at a campaign event for the former president since endorsing him soon after the assassination attempt.
Helen and Corey Comperatore in photos from Helen's Facebook page. Corey was shot to death by Thomas Crooks at a Trump rally in Butler, Pennsylvania on July 13, 2024
Elon Musk gives a small bow of the head as U.S. President Donald Trump congratulates him at the Firing Room Four after the launch of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket and Crew Dragon spacecraft on NASA's SpaceX Demo-2 mission to the International Space Station from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida, U.S. May 30, 2020
Lara Trump, the former president's daughter-in-law, who will also be there, said: 'What you’re going to see in Butler is the kind of strength and leadership that we are desperate for back in that White House. I think it’s going to be an emotional rally.'
Most people in Butler were either at the rally or know someone who was, and graffiti saying 'Fight' has been appearing around the area.
Kim Geyer, a Republican Butler County commissioner who was sitting behind Trump when he was shot, will be going back.
She said: 'The people that want to feel the inspiration and the energy from the Trump movement are going to attend to support President Trump and let him finish what he began.'
The Butler Farm Show grounds entrance in Butler, Pennsylvania
Trump campaign spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt said: 'The willingness of Pennsylvanians to join President Trump in his return to Butler represents the strength and resiliency of the American people.'
Trump has appeared publicly dozens of times since the shooting.
His allies insist he was not fundamentally changed by the narrow escape, or when another would-be gunman shoved a rifle barrel through the fence at his golf course in Florida last month.
'When you almost lose your life, it stays with you, it stays with him,' said Florida Rep. Byron Donalds, a close ally of Trump. 'But that doesn't change his resolve. His resolve is just as strong as it ever has been.'
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