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 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.”
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.”
Discussing his campaign for the White House, he promised to halve energy prices, pledged large tax cuts, and claimed his Democratic rival, Kamala Harris, is strongly left wing.
He also promised that the US will “reach Mars” before the end of his second term, should he be re-elected, and pledged “no men in women’s sports”.
Shortly after Mr Trump started speaking the crowd chanted “Corey”, referencing firefighter Corey Comperatore, who died as he shielded his family from the gunfire on 13 July.
At 6.11pm, the time when shots rang out, 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.
He later repeated the phrase himself, while his vice presidential nominee, JD Vance, said the former president “took a bullet for democracy”.
Vice presidential nominee JD Vance and Elon Musk. Pic: Reuters
There was a pause while a member of the crowd was treated by medics – and a spontaneous rendition of the American national anthem.
Elon Musk, the tycoon behind Tesla and SpaceX, took to the stage briefly and urged people to register to vote.
The entrepreneur said there is no truer test than courage under fire. In an apparent reference to Joe Biden, he said the US previously had one presidential candidate who “couldn’t climb a flight of stairs”, and another who shouted “fight, fight, fight”.
In addition, he claimed Mr Trump must win next month’s presidential election “to preserve the constitution” and to “preserve democracy in America”.
“This is a must-win situation,” Mr Musk said.
Mr Trump was back at Butler Farm Show grounds – the location where a bullet appeared to hit his 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.
Thomas Matthew Crooks of Bethel Park, Pennsylvania, opened fire from an unsecured rooftop before being fatally shot.
Pic: AP
His motive for the shooting is still unknown. 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.
