Donald Trump returned for a campaign rally Saturday at the same venue where an assassin’s bullet narrowly missed killing him in July, upending a White House race still clouded by the threat of political violence.
“Time stopped as this vicious monster unleashed pure evil from his sniper’s perch, not so far away, but by the hand of Providence and the grace of God, that villain did not succeed in his goal,” the Republican told thousands of cheering supporters after taking the stage behind panes of bulletproof glass.
Trump’s defiant and much-hyped return to Butler, Pennsylvania, came exactly one month before the November 5 presidential election, the outcome of which President Joe Biden suggested on Friday might not be peaceful.
Security was noticeably tighter than Trump’s July rally, with sniper squads positioned on several surrounding buildings, and a surveillance drone deployed overhead.
“There’s a lot going on that’s unnerving,” said Heather Hughes, 43, who had traveled from New Castle in must-win Pennsylvania.
“Do I think he’s safe? No, I think there’s going to be another attempt. But I think he’s going to make it through.”
Trump was riding a clear poll lead after crushing Biden in a TV debate in late June, and entered the Republican convention in Milwaukee as a political martyr.
Pictures of Trump with a blood-streaked face, pumping his fist and shouting “fight, fight, fight” as he was bundled away by Secret Service agents became defining images of the campaign.
On Saturday, many Trump supporters wore shirts emblazoned with assassination iconography, and some sported ear coverings recalling the bandage the former president wore after the shooting.
– Race upended –
Much has changed since Trump’s last visit.
Barely a week after the failed assassination bid, the presidential race was turned on its head when Biden dropped out and was replaced as the Democratic nominee by Vice President Kamala Harris.
The Harris campaign has clawed back the poll deficit — reversing it in some states — and the seismic events in Butler were largely overtaken.
Trump’s rally appeared aimed at recovering momentum as a bruising campaign enters its final stretch.
Harris on Saturday was in North Carolina meeting first responders and people hit by Hurricane Helene, which killed at least 220 as it ripped through the southeast.
The emergency response is “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,” she told officials at a briefing.
Trump has criticized the federal response, alleging without evidence that the Biden-Harris administration wrongly redirected relief funds to migrants.
– Election violence? –
The heavy security presence on Saturday highlighted persistent security fears, underscored when another attempt on Trump’s life was foiled last month.
The Secret Service has been pilloried for failing to secure the building where the Butler shooter managed to fire eight shots at Trump before being shot dead.
Along with Trump, two supporters were wounded and one — firefighter Corey Comperatore — was killed.
“He said he’d come back to finish his speech, and to me (that takes) guts,” said Robert Dupain, 53, a local construction worker who was at the July rally.
Trump and his campaign have turned on their head Democrats’ warnings about the former president representing a threat to democracy.
“The Republicans aren’t violent… I think they (the Democrats) incite. They keep talking about Hitler and the end of democracy,” said retiree Glen Scheirer, who was with five relatives wearing identical “By the grace of God” T-shirts showing Trump after the shooting.
In the immediate aftermath of the Butler incident, all sides urged a lowering of the political temperature.
But Trump quickly reverted to his signature inflammatory rhetoric and personal attacks, and has refused to commit to accepting the eventual result in November.
He has been indicted over the effort to subvert the 2020 election that culminated in his supporters storming the Capitol.
Asked on Friday about the possibility of further election-related violence, Biden said he did not know if the vote would be peaceful.
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