Quite a symbol. On July 13, Donald Trump was the victim of an assassination attempt in the middle of a meeting in Butler, Pennsylvania. A young man shot the ex-president, injuring him in the ear, killing a supporter in the stands and injuring two others – before being himself killed by the security services. This Saturday, October 5, the Republican presidential candidate was back at the scene of the (almost) crime.
“12 weeks ago, right here, an assassin tried to silence me and our movement. This vicious monster […] was close to achieving it but the hand of Providence prevented him,” declared Donald Trump, in front of a supportive crowd. But “I will never give up, never bend, never break,” assured the ex-president, who spoke to several thousand people gathered in this town in a crucial state, one month to the day before the presidential election on November 5 where he will face Democratic Vice-President Kamala Harris.
In the process, the Republican candidate marked a minute of silence, at the precise time when the shots rang out on July 13, with a strong tribute to the only victim, Corey Comperatore, before resuming his speech at the place exactly where it was then interrupted. He also denounced those he called “the enemies from within, much more dangerous than those from without.”
“For the past eight years, those who want to stop us have slandered me, tried to impeach me, sued me, tried to take away my ballots and, who knows, maybe even tried to kill myself. But I have never stopped fighting for you and I will never stop,” he assured his supporters. The gathering took place under very high security, with snipers installed on the roofs of several surrounding buildings and a drone flying over the crowd, an AFP journalist noted.
“Trump must win”
There were many more people who came to listen to Donald Trump than during the previous meeting in Butler, many dressed in a t-shirt bearing the image of the former president just after the assassination attempt, others with ear covered, reminiscent of the bandage he had worn in the following days. Before entering the stage, Donald Trump was preceded by his running mate JD Vance, under the eyes of the richest man in the world Elon Musk, relatives of victims of the shootings and the police who protected him.
Invited to come and speak, the tech billionaire presented the American election as “a fight that must not be lost”, fearing that otherwise it would be “the last election , that’s my prediction.” “President Trump must win, to preserve the Constitution and democracy,” insisted Elon Musk.
The assassination attempt was seen as a pivotal moment in the electoral campaign, as Donald Trump was trailing in opinion polls against Joe Biden after his disastrous televised debate and two days later he went to “political martyr” at the Republican convention. Those close to the candidate have since accused the Democrats of inciting violence with their speech presenting the Republican as an existential risk for democracy.