Trump rallies in Butler for first time since attempted assassination: Live

Conservative social media influencer and campaigner Scott Presler made an appeal to the Amish in Pennsylvania on Saturday before Donald Trump appeared at his Butler rally.

He told them Trump’s White House would protect their “raw milk” and would provide them a country where they could afford to have families with 10 children.

It’s not the first time Republicans have courted the Amish vote in Pennsylvania.

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Trump recognized Corey Comperatore, David Dutch and James Copenhaver, the men wounded during the July 13 assassination attempt at his rally in Pennsylvania.

Comperatore was killed in the attack. Trump called him a “folk hero,” a “brave guy,” and a “protector.”

He also noted that Copenhaver could not be at the rally because he was having surgery related to the shooting. Dutch was present at the rally on Saturday.

He then asked the crowd to join him in a moment of silence for Comperatore, during which time bells tolled and a singer sang “Ave Maria.”

Trump thanked the US Secret Service members who “threw their bodies on top of mine,” saying there “was not even a moment of doubt in their mind” when they moved in to assist him.

The Secret Service faced severe scrutiny in the aftermath of the assassination attempt in July. Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle resigned in the wake of the assassination attempt.

Donald Trump started his Saturday rally in Butler, Pennsylvania with the words “as I was saying,” referencing that his last rally in Butler ended abruptly when Thomas Matthew Crooks tried to assassinate him.

“By the hand of providence and the grace of God, that villain did not succeed in his goal,” Trump said.

The former president walked out to the stage to a live rendition of “God Bless the USA” sung by Lee Greenwood.

Donald Trump walked onto the stage to a live rendition of “God Bless the USA” sung by Lee Greenwood.

The former president returned to the Butler stage less than three months after a lone gunman tried to take his life. One supporter in the crowd died and two others were injured. Trump suffered a wound to his ear.

Trump started his rally, as promised, right where he left off in July: “As I was saying...”

The July 13 rally was interrupted just a few minutes in when shots rang out. Trump ducked behind a podium and Secret Service rushed to the stage to huddle around the former president, who eventually got up, with blood smattered across his face.

“The vicious monster unleashed pure evil from his sniper’s perch,” he said of the shooter.

“Donald Trump took a bullet for us. Please use your ballot and have his back on November 5,” Scott Presler told the crowd on Saturday.

The controversial campaigner, who boasts millions of followers across his various social media accounts, has been trying to urge Trump supporters in Pennsylvania to sign up for mail-in ballots — a message that directly contradicts that of the former president, who has repeatedly ragged on mail-in voting.

“Democrats vote for 50 days, Republicans vote for 12 hours. If we are going to be competitive in this election, then we must use an ‘all of the above’ approach to voting,” Presler previously told The Independent.

Presler’s efforts have won the support of Eric and Lara Trump.

Richard Hall has the full story.

God “spared Donald Trump’s life because he was not finished with Donald Trump. He did it not once but twice,” said Lara Trump, Eric’s wife and the co-chair of the RNC, referring to the two assassination attempts against the former president in the past two months.

The former president operates with “strength and faith,” he said.

Lara Trump also mentioned the RNC’s efforts toward what she called “transparent elections.”

“If you are a person considering cheating our elections, we will find you, we will track you down, we will prosecute you to the full extent of the law. If you’re an illegal citizen voting in our election, we will prosecute you to the full extent of the law — and you’re leaving this country.”

Her claims come after Trump and his allies have been baselessly claiming that the 2020 election was “stolen” from him.

“They tried to kill him. The Democratic party can’t do anything right,” Eric Trump, the former president’s son said as he took the stage on Saturday evening.

“They” have been after his father since he walked down the golden escalator, he said.

He didn’t define “they,” but it seemed to refer to the Justice Department which has been investigating his father, the suspected Butler shooter, and perhaps the Democrats.

“The good news? Help is on the way,” he said, referring to his father.

The younger Trump sparked the crowd to chant: “Fight! Fight! Fight!”

Steve Witkoff, an investor and longtime Trump ally, was with the former president at Mar-a-Lago during the last alleged assassination attempt.

He has donated more than $2 million to Trump-connected PACs, and he briefly testified during the fraud trial in Manhattan.

Witkoff called the former president a “dear friend” on the stage of the Butler rally on Saturday.

Acting Secret Service Director Ronald Rowe said in September that the agency has been providing the “highest levels” of protections for presidential candidates since the July 13 assassination attempt.

The agency has endured intense scrutiny, prompting its chief at the time to resign after the July attack.

The agency’s “failures in planning, communications, security, and allocations of resources… were foreseeable, preventable, and directly related to the events resulting in the assassination attempt,” the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs report said.

A number of security measures have been put in place for Saturday, a law enforcement told The Independent. The Secret Service will work out of a “unified command post” with state, local and federal partners, a source in law enforcement familiar with the plan said. There will be “a large coordinated presence of law enforcement,” the source added.

The agencies have “secured some of the sight lines,” like the rooftop from which the 20-year-old shooter opened fire. Drones will also be on the site; in July, the drone system was experiencing technical difficulties.

Trump has faced two attempts against his life in the past few months. But since the first attack, Trump made it clear that he planned on returning to the Butler site.

A week ahead of the Saturday rally, Trump anticipated the venue would be the “safest place on Earth.” He quipped that he’ll start the Saturday rally right where he left off in July: “I think I’ll start the speech by saying, ‘As I was saying.’”