Just In: Trump holds rally at site of July assassination attempt… See More

What we’re covering here
• Trump campaigns in Pennsylvania: Former President Donald Trump is speaking at the Butler, Pennsylvania, venue where he survived an assassination attempt in July. GOP vice presidential nominee JD Vance, Tesla CEO Elon Musk and the family of the man killed during the attempted assassination are expected to attend.

• Harris visits North Carolina: Vice President Kamala Harris is in North Carolina, where she is meeting with officials and surveying damage from Hurricane Helene.

• What to watch: In an unprecedented campaign cycle, today marks one month until Election Day. From ad spending to Hurricane Helene’s effects on voting, CNN’s Zachary B. Wolf breaks down what to watch over the next month.

• Election resources: With less than five weeks until Election Day, visit CNN’s voter handbook to see how to vote in your area and read up on the 2024 candidates and their proposals on key issues.

Former President Donald Trump is speaking at a high-profile rally at the Butler, Pennsylvania, venue where he survived an assassination attempt in July.

He began his speech, as he said he might, with: “As I was saying.”

“A very big thank you to Pennsylvania. We love Pennsylvania. And as I was saying … ” Trump said at the rally, in reference to how just a few minutes into his speech at his July rally a gunman opened fire.

Trump said, “Tonight, I return to Butler in the aftermath of tragedy and heartache to deliver a simple message to the people of Pennsylvania and to the people of America: Our movement to make America great again stands stronger, prouder, more united, more determined and nearer to victory than ever before.

Trump holds rally at site of July assassination attempt
By Shania Shelton and Isabelle D’Antonio, CNN
Updated 6:35 PM EDT, Sat October 5, 2024

Professor who correctly predicted 9 presidential elections weighs in on ‘October surprise’
03:01 – Source: CNN
What we’re covering here
• Trump campaigns in Pennsylvania: Former President Donald Trump is speaking at the Butler, Pennsylvania, venue where he survived an assassination attempt in July. GOP vice presidential nominee JD Vance, Tesla CEO Elon Musk and the family of the man killed during the attempted assassination are expected to attend.

• Harris visits North Carolina: Vice President Kamala Harris is in North Carolina, where she is meeting with officials and surveying damage from Hurricane Helene.

• What to watch: In an unprecedented campaign cycle, today marks one month until Election Day. From ad spending to Hurricane Helene’s effects on voting, CNN’s Zachary B. Wolf breaks down what to watch over the next month.

• Election resources: With less than five weeks until Election Day, visit CNN’s voter handbook to see how to vote in your area and read up on the 2024 candidates and their proposals on key issues.

Trump returns to Butler rally stage
From CNN’s Kate Sullivan in Butler, Pennsylvania
Former President Donald Trump arrives at a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, on Saturday.
Former President Donald Trump arrives at a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, on Saturday. Evan Vucci/AP
Former President Donald Trump is speaking at a high-profile rally at the Butler, Pennsylvania, venue where he survived an assassination attempt in July.

He began his speech, as he said he might, with: “As I was saying.”

“A very big thank you to Pennsylvania. We love Pennsylvania. And as I was saying … ” Trump said at the rally, in reference to how just a few minutes into his speech at his July rally a gunman opened fire.

Trump said, “Tonight, I return to Butler in the aftermath of tragedy and heartache to deliver a simple message to the people of Pennsylvania and to the people of America: Our movement to make America great again stands stronger, prouder, more united, more determined and nearer to victory than ever before.”

Former President Donald Trump speaks at the campaign rally.
Former President Donald Trump speaks at the campaign rally. Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images
Trump said the field where the crowd was gathered was “now a monument to the valor of our first responders, to the resilience of our fellow citizens and to the sacrifice of a loving and devoted father. A really great man.”

Corey Comperatore, 50, was fatally shot during the July assassination attempt. The campaign had positioned a firefighter jacket and helmet with Comperatore’s name on it in the stands, and the crowd broke out into a chant of “Corey.”

The former president previously described this weekend’s trip to Butler, an hour’s drive north of Pittsburgh in what could be the election’s most important swing state, as unfinished business.

Vice President Kamala Harris on Saturday met with members of the North Carolina Air National Guard and expressed her gratitude for those doing “God’s work on the ground” following Hurricane Helene.

“I came out to talk with the folks who have been doing God’s work on the ground here in the last several days,” Harris said in Charlotte, adding that federal, state and local officials will continue working together to bring “relief, support and help to the people who are most in need.”

Harris detailed her conversation with the National Guard members, emphasizing that some of them were “directly hit themselves” by the storm.

Harris also met with families who were affected by the disaster, the White House said. One family she met with was forced to temporarily relocate from western North Carolina to Charlotte with their 6-month-old until they can safely return to their community.

She also met with volunteers at the Dream Center, a primary care facility in Charlotte, and assisted them with packing essentials for victims of Hurricane Helene.

“We’re here for the long haul. … We’re putting all hands on deck,” Harris said to one volunteer

Biden calls Trump a “liar” and says White House is “moving heaven and earth” to get hurricane relief funds out

President Joe Biden called Donald Trump a “liar” in a Saturday social media post slamming the former president’s false accusations that the White House stole money intended for hurricane relief.

“Once again, Donald Trump is a liar,” the president wrote on X. “He’s the guy who redirected relief funds as president. We are moving heaven and earth to make sure that everyone affected by Hurricane Helene gets what they need.”

Trump baselessly claimed this week that Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris “stole” money from the Federal Emergency Management Agency and gave it to undocumented immigrants.

Biden’s post includes a screenshot of a Washington Post fact check that reads: “No, Biden didn’t take FEMA relief money to use on migrants — but Trump did.”

In 2019, Trump’s administration moved $155 million meant for FEMA disaster relief to support immigration enforcement.

Biden’s Saturday post reflects a more forceful tone taken by the White House at combatting some of the misinformation that has been swirling in the wake of Hurricane Helene’s destruction.

Republican vice presidential nominee JD Vance blamed Democrats and Vice President Kamala Harris for continuing to use “dangerous, inflammatory rhetoric” after the first assassination attempt against Donald Trump — which he believes led to the second — and at the same time, claimed they have “declared war” against the First Amendment.

“Even after that terrible assassination attempt that took one man’s life and nearly took many others, they continue to use dangerous, inflammatory rhetoric,” Vance said ahead of Trump’s remarks Saturday in Butler, Pennsylvania.

“Kamala Harris said that he was attacking quote, ‘The foundations of our democracy,’” Vance said. “I think you all will join me in saying to Kamala Harris, how dare you talk about threats to democracy? Donald Trump took a bullet for democracy. What the hell have you done?”

Harris has argued Trump is a “threat to our democracy and fundamental freedoms.”

Claiming Democrats have tried to censor, bankrupt and jail Trump, Vance said it was no surprise there was a second assassination attempt, which was thwarted by Secret Service.

“Three weeks ago, while these guys still go out there and attack at him as a threat to democracy, another gunman, armed with an AK-47-style rifle, tried to finish the job,” he said.

Law enforcement officials are still investigating the motives of the suspects in both assassination attempts.