Trump returns for indoor Pennsylvania rally for first time since assassination attempt in state
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Donald Trump was in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania on Wednesday for his first campaign rally in the swing state of Pennsylvania since he came within inches of being killed by a would-be assassin’s bullet earlier this month.
The former president spoke at an indoor rally where thousands packed in to see him just hours after he appeared for a confrontational interview with the National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ) in Chicago. In that appearance, Trump insulted his opponent, Kamala Harris, and falsely accused her of lying about her race — stating that she recently “became Black”. Harris, who is biracial, is Black and Indian-American. He walked out to Lee Greenwood’s “Proud to be an American”, days after Greenwood himself appeared at the Republican National Convention and endorsed him.
“As you know, this is my first rally since Butler,” Trump said. “We’re going back to Butler, by the way.”
As supporters waited for Trump to speak Wednesday evening, a projector flashed images of news articles noting that Harris was the first Indian-American senator from California, a fact that does not change her biracial identity.
Secret Service agents were once again in charge of the former president’s security on Wednesday as the agency faces bipartisan condemnation for the assassination attempt at Trump’s rally earlier this month in Butler, Pennsylvania. The director of the agency resigned after a heated congressional hearing last week, and her acting successor has said that he is “ashamed” of the security lapses which led to a roof of a building being unsecured during Trump’s July 13 speech in Butler, allowing suspect Thomas Crooks to allegedly scale the building and fire several shots at the ex-president with a rifle.
Trump was wounded in the ear during the attack, falling to the ground momentarily before standing back up and clutching a bloody ear. He raised a fist to the crowd and yelled, “fight!” several times before being led off the stage by Secret Service agents. Crooks was shot and killed by a Secret Service sniper after firing at the president; during the attack, he killed one rallygoer, retired fire chief Corey Comperatore. Two others were wounded besides the ex-president.
“Corey is a hero to all of us,” Trump said, provoking a chant of “Corey!” from the crowd. He went on to ask for a moment of silence, remarking afterwards: “That is the most quiet I have ever heard an arena.”
On Wednesday, a spokesman for the city of Harrisburg told a local news station that Secret Service agents were “overseeing everything” at Wednesday’s rally, adding: “after that, it becomes a Pennsylvania State Police detail and because the farm show is a state-owned building, [Pennsylvania] Capitol Police are involved as well.”
At his rally, Trump frequently lamented that he had spent so much time attacking Biden, quipping that he did not know who Harris was before she became the presumptive Democratic nominee with the withdrawal of Biden from the race. “Kamala”, the former president remarked onstage, pronouncing the vice president’s name correctly after previously failing to do so. “Beautiful.”
He also went on to blame a “corrupt” national media for supposedly giving his new opponent a makeover: “all of a sudden she’s the new Margaret Thatcher”.
And in a particularly jarring moment, Trump invited the campaign aide who created a chart for his Butler rally to give a brief “hi!” to the crowd. The chart, which illustrated rates of illegal immigration in the United States, has been credited by Trump as having “saved his life” after he turned his head to look at it miliseconds before the alleged shooter’s bullet whizzed past his head.
This is a breaking news story. More to follow…
