Trump returns to must-win state where he's seen as a 'living martyr'

It was always probable that Donald Trump would return to Butler; that he would want to go back to the place where he almost died.

That moment exactly twelve weeks ago was more than a near-death experience. For his most loyal supporters, it underlined the increasingly divine status that he carries.

In the crowd, Trump signs had been redesigned: “Trump” replaced with “Jesus”. One supporter arrived pulling a life-sized crucifix.

As always, the choreography was, for the audience, pitch-perfect. The Top Gun theme tune filled the Pennsylvania countryside as his plane, branded TRUMP, flew low overhead.

The fly-past prompted huge cheers. Photographers on board captured the huge crowd below at the same showground where the assassination attempt had jolted this extraordinary election campaign back in July.

He walked on to the same stage, but this time with so much more security, to a podium flanked on three sides with bullet proof glass.

“As I was saying…” he said, picking up from that July interruption. He pointed up to the same chart he’d turned to look at back then; the head tilt which had saved his life.

It began as an evening of reflection. It was a night to remember the life of Corey Comperatore, the man who died from the shots which skimmed the former president.

“We’re here for a reason, and that’s to win… and to honour Corey. But Corey wants us to win too,” he said.

There was a moment of silence, quickly filled with an operatic rendition of Ave Maria. It was poignant but purposely, overtly political, too.

And then came the other moment which set this rally apart from all the rest. Elon Musk, the tech billionaire with such huge online influence, seemed almost giddy to be there. He jumped onto the stage, pumping the air with child-like enthusiasm.

The core message from the world’s richest man to the people of a town with an average salary a third below the national average was to get out and vote. “Make sure you’re registered,” he said, suggesting a campaign nervous about turnout.

“The other side wants to take away your freedom of speech,” he said. “They want to take away your right to bear arms. They want to take away your right to vote effectively.”

None of that is true, but it seems that doesn’t matter for a man once apolitical but now full throttle for Trump.

The shooting back in July, and Mr Trump’s remarkable reaction to it, supercharged his campaign. But it was a campaign then against Joe Biden.

Now Kamala Harris is his opponent and the polls have tightened considerably and so the rally fell into a familiar meandering rhythm. In trademark form he shuttled through the push-button issues and more in single sentences.

“All of the migrants coming in are going on between Medicare, social security, other programmes, and nobody is able to afford it, and I will settle the war in Ukraine, I will end the chaos in the Middle East and I will prevent, I promise you, World War Three; we’re not going to have World War Three, and right now we’re very close to having it. We will lead the world in space exploration – thank you, Elon – we will lead the world in military and we will reach Mars before the end of my term,” he said.

Here they see him as a living martyr. It is why he came back; to revive that moment of defiance in a must-win state, in a campaign so close and with just a month to run.