Breaking News: Donald Trump takes stage in Butler, Pennsylvania, months after assassination attempt – live… See More

Ex-president joined at rally by Elon Musk, JD Vance and family of Corey Comperatore, who was killed when gunman fired at Trump

Trump is currently addressing the family of Corey Comperatore, a first responder who was killed at the July 13 rally in Butler.

“There’s one more hero could not make it back here tonight because he is no longer with us, right? You know that is, Corey, our beautiful Corey,” he said. “Corey Comperatore was a incredible husband and father, a devout Christian, a veteran and a proud former fire chief. Very respected in the town.”

“When the sound of gunshots pierced the air on that July evening, Corey leapt into the fire one more time and in his last seconds on this earth he threw himself on the top of his wife and daughters. He didn’t want them hurt.”

Trump then acknowledged the time, 6:11pm ET, exactly the same as the shooting in Butler in July, and asked the crowd to take a moment of silence as opera singer Christopher Macchio performed Ave Maria.

President Trump is thanking the US Secret Service for saving his life on July 13 and again at another assassination attempt two weeks ago.

“They were on top of me so fast they were on top of me, and there was not even a moment of doubt in their minds,” he said. “In that moment, those agents displayed a devotion to duty that cannot be described, and they did it yet again less than three weeks ago, when they really did a fantastic job.”

The Secret Service is currently under investigation for security failures on July 13.

Trump has begun addressing rallygoers in Butler. Beginning with “And, as I was saying”, Trump briefly continued with the point he had been making on July 13 about border crossings before a guman opened fire on him.

The former president continued, “Exactly 12 weeks ago, this evening, on this very ground, a cold blooded assassin aimed to silence me and to silence the greatest movement, Maga, in the history of our country.”

Trump takes the stage in Butler, Pennsylvania
Trump has taken the stage in Butler, Pennsylvania, following a movie-like voiceover and Lee Greenwood’s song God Bless the USA.

As rally-goers in Butler, Pennsylvania, wait for Trump to take the stage, Kamala Harris is in Charlotte, North Carolina, visiting a donation center after Hurricane Helene devastated the state.

Amid widespread misinformation, the White House and Fema are attempting to quell the spread of rumors about the availability of disaster relief.

Since Hurricane Helene made landfall, there have been false claims and misinformation regarding the federal assistance available to survivors, from former President Trump, Congressional Republicans, and others.

Scott Presler, a conservative activist, has joined Eric and Lara Trump on stage at the Trump rally in Butler, encouraging attendees to register to vote. Presler is specifically addressing Pennsylvania’s union workers, Amish community, hunters, sorority sisters and fraternity brothers, asking them to vote for Trump.

Lara Trump, chair of the Republican National Committee, joined her husband, Eric Trump, on stage at the Trump rally in Butler.

“This is no longer a fight between Republican versus Democrat, left versus right. It is good versus evil,” she said. “And if you had any question whether God exists, and he performs miracles, we got our answer here on July 13, right here in Butler, Pennsylvania.”

Echoing Vance’s language referring to Trump as a messianic figure, Lara Trump continued: “He spared Donald Trump’s life because he was not finished with Donald Trump. And he did it not once, but twice. And I’ve said it time and time again, but now you feel it more than ever: Donald Trump was made for such a time as this.”

Lara Trump went on to speak about her work “making sure that we have free, fair and transparent elections, that only legal citizens are voting in our elections here in the United States of America”. She added: “If you’re an illegal citizen voting in our election, we’ll track you down and prosecute you to the full extent of the law and you’re leaving this country,” before encouraging the crowd gathered in Butler to register to vote.

Although Trump and Republicans have claimed that massive numbers of non-citizens are voting in US elections, there is no proof that non-citizens are voting, or even registering to vote, in any meaningful numbers.

Eric Trump and his wife, the RNC co-chair Lara Trump, are speaking at the Trump rally in Butler.

“This is a big family. They tried to take away someone we all love,” Eric Trump said. “They’ve tried to get my father every single second since he went down that golden escalator. Lara and I have witnessed it every single day. They tried to smear us. They tried to bankrupt us. They came after us.

“And then guys, they tried to kill him. They tried to kill him, and it’s because the Democratic party, they can’t do anything right.”

John Paulson, a New York-based billionaire investor, and Steve Witkoff, a New York-based real estate investor and landlord, have both briefly taken the stage in Butler.

“When [Trump] is elected president, he will deliver the greatest economic boom to America than we’ve ever seen,” Paulson said. “We’ll see growth in our energy sector. We will become a manufacturing powerhouse. We’ll see growth in real wages, which will benefit all Americans.”

“My friend has stood up to tyrants and bullies, making tough decisions and always putting this country first, even when it wasn’t an easy choice. That’s why we need him more now than ever. This isn’t about politics. It is about the soul of our country,” Witkoff said, riffing off Joe Biden’s former campaign slogan.