A Rally to Remember: 5 Iconic Moments from Trump’s Historic Return to Butler Shooting Site

October 8, 2024 Mark Wolf US 0

Calling it a triumphal return would be underselling it.

On July 13, GOP presidential nominee and former President Donald Trump was almost killed by a would-be assassin’s bullet during an outdoor rally in Butler, Pennsylvania. Only a last-second turn by Trump meant that the bullet hit his ear and not his head, as the intent was.

The attempt on the president’s life was quickly forgotten because of the unprecedented pace of the events of the 2024 election; between the shooting and Democratic National Convention, Joe Biden pulled an LBJ, and Trump was running against a new candidate entirely, one who promised a campaign of “joy” and “vibes.”

The media focused on this and memory-holed the assassination attempt against the GOP candidate — until another attempt happened, at which point they sought to blame him again.

But that’s the thing about Trump, love him or loathe him: He reminds America of the inconvenient facts, and the inconvenient facts are that febrile rhetoric and security failings led to his life almost being taken in Butler, Pennsylvania. So he returned on Saturday, and he had a few surprises in store.

In case you missed it, here are five iconic moments from the return to the very spot where the former president was so rudely interrupted on July 13.

1) Elon Musk

That’s all you really have to say, right?

Wearing a black MAGA cap and an “Occupy Mars” T-shirt (Musk is a fan of colonizing Mars, among other projects), the Tesla/SpaceX/platform formerly known as Twitter impresario got the massive crowd warmed up for Trump.

There were some classic Musk jokes, such as joking his all-black attire was a repartee to the left’s lame “Dark Brandon” Joe Biden memes.

“As you can see, I am not just MAGA — I am Dark MAGA,” said Musk, who has endorsed Trump.

However, he was serious during his remarks, according to Fox News, calling the 2024 presidential race “the most important election of our lifetime.”

“This is no ordinary election,” Musk said. “The other side wants to take away your freedom of speech.”

He also referenced the difference between Trump and his erstwhile opponent, the current president. (Remember him?)

Related:

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“I want to say what an honor it is to be here, and, you know, the true test of someone’s character is how they behave under fire, right?” Musk said at the outset of his speech. “And we had one president who couldn’t climb a flight of stairs and another who was fist pumping after getting shot.”

“Fight, fight, fight, vote, vote, vote,” he added.

And there was also jumping involved:

2) A former Democrat’s moving remarks

Tom Natoli was one of the men who was sitting behind the president during the July 13 rally. The local man said that he was happy to be surrounded “by fellow patriots who were standing with me” when the shooting occurred and that “everyone stood their ground in support of our president.”

As for his story? “I was a lifelong Democrat. That all changed the day Donald J. Trump came down that escalator in Trump Tower. The very next day, I changed my political affiliation to Republican.”

The appearance of both Musk and Natoli — very different people with very different backgrounds, but both supporting the same candidate — underlined the transformation that conservatism has undergone since Trump’s candidacy began.

Again, love him or loathe him, the path the GOP was on before Trump’s escalator ride was unsustainable; Mitt Romney and Jeb(!) Bush grumbled a little more about immigration or about LGBT indoctrination than the Democrats did, but establishment Republicans mostly went with the cultural tide, confident that tax cuts for major corporations and offshoring manufacturing would make life cheaper and better for Americans.

Those mega-corporations are now wokeness factories, and the COVID-19 pandemic shock underscored why offshoring our manufacturing base was a terrible idea in a way that previous tremors hadn’t. They say that the plural of “anecdote” isn’t “data,” but Musk and Natoli provide a reasonable summation of why conservatism has changed — and where it’s going from here, with or without Trump as president.

3) It’s like the rally never stopped

The first words out of Trump’s mouth during his speech proper in Butler on Saturday? “So, as I was saying …”

Applause and laughter ensued:

He then turned to the graph about illegal immigration that quite literally saved his life, since he turned to it just before the would-be assassin fired.

Now, it’s worth noting that this line wasn’t entirely original. Legend has it that, when BBC TV broadcasting began after World War II, the announcer began with, “As I was saying before I was so rudely interrupted …” (It turns out that was indeed just a legend: The actual first words were “Good afternoon everybody. How are you? Do you remember me, Jasmine Bligh?”)

One person who actually did do it was one of the pre-Johnny Carson “The Tonight Show” hosts, Jack Paar. In 1960, after NBC censors edited a segment of his, he walked off the set, saying, “I am leaving ‘The Tonight Show.’ There must be a better way of making a living than this.”

A month later, he was back, and his first remarks before the monologue: “As I was saying before I was interrupted …” After the laughter died down: “When I walked off, I said there must be a better way of making a living. Well, I’ve looked … and there isn’t.”

That being said, it has a little more meaning when you were interrupted by a would-be assassin’s bullet — and, thanks to our Secret Service’s apparent incompetence, may risk it again. It’s also nice to have a candidate whose sense of humor isn’t unintentional (Biden) or so rehearsed and phony that you can’t help but groan (Harris).

4) Trump meeting the family of the firefighter who was killed in Butler

That being said, returning to the site of an assassination attempt wasn’t all just jesting, particularly when it involved the family of firefighter Corey Comperatore, who was killed by one of the bullets the would-be assassin fired.

Video and pictures posted on social media showed the former president meeting with and consoling the family of the victim, who reportedly shielded them from harm.

@teamtrumpCorey was fataly shot on July 13th in Butler, Pennsylvania♬ original sound – Team Trump

During his remarks, Trump made a point to note to Comperatore’s family that “he loved you a lot.”

“He threw himself into the fire one more time and protected his family. He gave his life to save their lives,” Trump said. “God bless you.”

“It is love like Corey’s that is going to unite our country,” he added.

5) The crowd size

Yes, yes, we know: Talk about crowd sizes can be a bit touchy in this campaign. It can even lead to other former presidents making dirty jokes on convention daises. (Throwing shade at you, Barack.)

However, this is what 60,000 Donald Trump supporters in the biggest swing-state prize of them all looks like from above:

And he didn’t even need a pop music act or another stunt to draw people out.

Kamala Harris wants to talk about crowd sizes, as we saw during the debate. She doesn’t want to talk about how her party’s delirious ranting about threats to democracy were partially responsible for what happened in Butler.

On Saturday, Trump managed to remind her about the realities behind both.



C. Douglas Golden is a writer who splits his time between the United States and Southeast Asia. Specializing in political commentary and world affairs, he’s written for Conservative Tribune and The Western Journal since 2014.

C. Douglas Golden is a writer who splits his time between the United States and Southeast Asia. Specializing in political commentary and world affairs, he’s written for Conservative Tribune and The Western Journal since 2014. Aside from politics, he enjoys spending time with his wife, literature (especially British comic novels and modern Japanese lit), indie rock, coffee, Formula One and football (of both American and world varieties).

Birthplace

Morristown, New Jersey

Education

Catholic University of America

Languages Spoken

English, Spanish

Topics of Expertise

American Politics, World Politics, Culture

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