Donald Trump has returned to the site where he survived an assassination attempt in Butler, Pennsylvania – and opened with a joke.
“Thank you,” he told a large crowd, reportedly in the tens of thousands. “A very big thank you. We love Pennsylvania, and, as I was saying” – which sparked large cheers from the audience.
He added: “I return to Butler to deliver a simple message… We are going to make America great again, we are going to win the election. And to all Americans… Together in just one month we are going to usher in a new golden age.”
Discussing the assassination attempt, Mr Trump said the gunman “aimed to silence me and the MAGA movement”.
He continued: “For 16 seconds, time stopped as this vicious monster unleashed pure evil. That villain did not succeed.”
Shortly after Mr Trump started speaking, the crowd began chanting “Corey”, referencing firefighter Corey Comperatore, who died as he shielded his family from the gunfire.
At 6.11pm, the time when shots rang out on 13 July, Mr Trump called for a moment of silence. A bell tolled four times, once for each of the four victims, including him.
Some in the crowd chanted “fight, fight, fight” – the slogan Mr Trump used to rally his followers moments after he was shot.
Mr Trump later repeated the phrase himself. His presidential nominee, JD Vance, said the former president “took a bullet for democracy”.
Mr Trump paused briefly while a member of the crowd was treated by medics. There was also a spontaneous rendition of the American national anthem.
Mr Trump returned to Butler Farm Show grounds – the exact location where a bullet appeared to hit the former president’s ear, in July.
He was whisked off stage with blood dripping across his face in one of the defining images of this year’s campaign.
Pic: AP
Thomas Matthew Crooks of Bethel Park, Pennsylvania, opened fire from an unsecured rooftop close to the 13 July rally before he was fatally shot.
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His motive for the shooting is still unknown, and the incident raised serious questions about security failures within the Secret Service. Its director Kimberly Cheatle resigned less than two weeks after the shooting.
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A second attempt was allegedly made on Mr Trump’s life last month when a gunman hid undetected for nearly 12 hours at the former president’s golf course in West Palm Beach, Florida, with plans to kill him, prosecutors have said.
The alleged gunman was stopped by a Secret Service agent patrolling the course ahead of the former president.