1 of 6 | Former president and Republican candidate Donald Trump returned to the Butler. Pa., Farm Show grounds, the site of the assassination attempt three months ago, for a rally on Saturday. Photo by Archie Carpenter/UPI. | License Photo
Oct. 5 (UPI) — Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump returned to the scene of the July 13 assassination attempt against him in Butler, Pa., on Saturday while his Democratic opponent, Vice President Kamala Harris, traveled to North Carolina for an update on Hurricane Helene damage.
Before the Butler rally, GOP campaign officials promised that Trump’s appearance at the site north of Pittsburgh would be “different” from his usual rallies of late, which have featured increasingly ominous and strident attacks on Harris, the Democratic Party, the legal system, immigrants and other political targets.
Amid tight security precautions due to the deadly attack by a 20-year-old sniper on his previous visit to Butler, they predicted the former president would tone down the divisive rhetoric and instead focus on those who were killed and injured during the shooting, including Corey Comperatore, a firefighter who died while shielding his family from the bullets.
To emphasize the point, the firefighter coat and helmet worn by Comperatore were placed in the stands behind the stage as the rally got underway.
Trump indeed began by honoring Comperatore, calling for a moment of silence before an operatic tenor delivered a rendition of “Ave Maria.”
“Tonight, I return to Butler in the aftermath of tragedy and heartache to deliver a simple message to the people of Pennsylvania and to the people of America — our movement to make America great again stands stronger, prouder, more united, more determined and nearer to victory than ever before,” he said.
About one-half hour into the rally, however, he returned to his familiar strategy of voicing unsubstantiated claims about immigration and leaning into culturally divisive issues such as transgender athletes.
He also tried to tie Democrats to the assassination attempt, suggesting without evidence his political opponents “maybe even tried to kill me.”
At one point he was joined onstage by Elon Musk, the billionaire owner of SpaceX and the social media platform formerly known as Twitter, who joined in with the crowd in chanting, “Fight, fight, fight!”
The July 13 assassination attempt, as well as another two months later in which an armed man was found hiding along the perimeter of Trump’s West Palm Beach, Fla., golf course, has led to a “paradigm shift” in how the Secret Service is providing protection for candidates and other public figures, its leaders say.
An internal investigation launched by the agency, as well as separate probes underway by a pair of congressional committees, have put the blame for the close call in part on a lack of communication between the Secret Service and local and state law enforcement officials.
That would not be the case on Saturday in the key swing state, all the parties promised beforehand.
Rep. Mike Kelly, R-Pa., who represents the area in Congress and is leading the bipartisan House probe of the assassination attempt, said there will be more law enforcement officers on site who will be using better communication methods.
“It is so safe and so secure,” he told reporters on Friday. “I think, in every possible way that you can secure that area, that has been done. It’s 180 degrees different than the site on July 13.”
Trump was also shielded by bulletproof glass, as he has been at his outdoor rallies since late August.
On Friday, Trump and Republican Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp made a rare joint appearance as they toured the damage from Hurricane Helene. He then hosted a town hall in Fayetteville, N.C.
Harris, meanwhile, on Saturday met with first responders in Charlotte, N.C., as the Federal Emergency Management Agency is directing an extensive recovery effort in the wake of the devastation left by Hurricane Helene in the western part of the state.
Although the visit is not being billed as a campaign stop but rather an official visit, Harris’ appearance is happening in an electoral battleground state where most statewide polls show a very tight race.
After receiving an update from FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell, Harris touted the “positive impact” of the effort, calling it “an example of the best we can do when we bring resources together at the federal, state and local level and tap into the kind of collegiality that produces results.”
North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper said during the briefing that at least 68 state residents have died due to the storm.
The White House on Saturday reported that at least 6,400 federal personnel are on the ground in North Carolina while more than $110 million in federal assistance has so far been given to survivors, “with more to come.”
It also sought to counter a “large increase in false information circulating online related to the federal response to Hurricane Helene.”
Citing “scam artists, bad-faith actors, and others who want to sow chaos because they think it helps their political interests,” the administration blasted those “promoting disinformation about the recovery effort, including ways to access critical and live-saving resources. This is wrong, dangerous, and it must stop immediately.”
President Joe Biden went further, calling Trump “a liar” in a social media post on Saturday in reaction to baseless claims made by the GOP candidate this week alleging Biden and Harris “stole” disaster relief money and gave it to undocumented immigrants.
Harris’ North Carolina visit came a day after she visited another swing state, Michigan, where she met with Arab American and Muslim leaders, many of whom have voiced strong objections to the Biden administration’s staunch support of Israel in its ongoing conflicts in Gaza and Lebanon.
She later held a rally in Flint, Mich., where he appeared with former NBA superstar and Michigan native Earvin “Magic” Johnson. While there she blasted the positions of Trump and Vance on the auto industry, questioning their commitments to continuing the Biden administration’s efforts to develop U.S. electric car-making capacity.
“Two days ago, Donald Trump’s running mate suggested that if Trump wins, he might let the Grand River assembly plant in Lansing close down, the same plant that our administration helped save earlier this year, along with 650 union jobs,” Harris said. “Michigan, we together fought hard for those jobs, and you deserve a president who won’t put them at risk.”
Harris’ running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, spoke in Cincinnati on Saturday while on a fundraising tour through Ohio. During the appearance, he slammed Vance for refusing to say at this week’s vice presidential debate whether Trump had lost the 2020 election, the New York Times reported.
“He is not a reflection on the integrity of the people of Ohio,” Walz said.
The governor is scheduled to embark on a similar fundraising tour through California and Washington state on Sunday.
