Trump taken off stage at Butler rally after gunshots

BUTLER, PA — Shortly after former President Donald Trump took the stage at a rally in Butler at 6 p.m., several loud pops could be heard, and Trump was whisked off the stage. Multiple reports suggested the noises were gunshots, and video from the incident appeared to show Trump reacting to something hitting his ear. The event was to be his final campaign rally before he formally accepts the Republican Party’s 2024 presidential nomination at next week’s Republican National Convention.

The U.S. Secret Service chief spokesperson posted to Twitter shortly after the incident that “The Secret Service has implemented protective measures and the former President is safe. This is now an active Secret Service investigation and further information will be released when available.”

President Joe Biden has received an initial briefing on the incident, according to a White House pool report.

Trump spokesperson Steven Cheung told reporters Saturday “President Trump thanks law enforcement and first responders for their quick action during this heinous act. He is fine and is being checked out at a local medical facility. More details will follow.”

Gov. Josh Shapiro said on social media he had been briefed on the situation and that Pennsylvania State Police were on the scene working with federal and local partners. “Violence targeted at an political party or political leaders is absolutely unacceptable,” Shapiro wrote. “It has no place in Pennsylvania or the United States.”

LIVE: Sounds of multiple shots heard at Trump rally in Pennsylvania https://t.co/0htWSbaRrZ

— Reuters (@Reuters) July 13, 2024

This is a breaking story that will be updated.

Speakers at the event ahead of Trump included representatives from the oil and gas industries, the mayor of Slippery Rock, and Sean Parnell, a former GOP candidate for U.S. Senate who received Trump’s endorsement, but suspended his campaign in 2021 after his then-wife testified he had abused her and their children.

U.S. Rep. Dan Meuser (R-9th District), who took the stage to AC-DC’s “Thunderstruck” told the audience Trump “will deliver on his promises. Our border will be secure. He will end the gas backwards energy policy of the Biden administration and in Pennsylvania, natural gas will flow again. We will make manufacturing great again by being the most competitive place in the world to build things.”

U.S. Rep. Mike Kelly (R-16th District), whose district includes Butler, pointed to Biden’s debate performance as evidence that “the media has been lying to us” about the president’s health.

“Have you ever heard the term ‘playing through the whistle?’ Playing it through the whistle means you keep on playing, you keep on doing what you have to do to win,” Kelly said. “You keep on going to make sure you don’t lose. But I want to give you a different version: We’d better play it through the echo of the whistle. Playing through the whistle isn’t enough, not with this crew that we’re fighting against right now.”

GOP U.S. Senate candidate David McCormick, who is challenging three-term incumbent Bob Casey, reiterated his claims that Casey votes with Biden 98% of the time.  “I like to say Punxsutawney, because it reminds me of Punxsutawney, Bob, Bob Casey, that is who only comes out of his hole once every six years,” McCormick said.

“The lack of leadership, lack of moral clarity, an economy where 60% of Pennsylvanians are living paycheck to paycheck, and prices are up by more than 20% and is the result of the terrible, flawed policies of Joe Biden, the spending Bob Casey supported it every step of the way,” he added.

McCormick repeated another familiar highlight of his campaign stump speech, pointing to the fentanyl crisis. “For those of you who are Vietnam vets, we lost 53,000 veterans in eight years of war. We had two Vietnams last year in the United States from fentanyl,” he said. “This is a war against us.”

McCormick also referenced Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, who was detained in Russia in 2023, and Oakmont resident Marc Fogel, a teacher detained in Russia in 2021 . Fogel’s mother said earlier in the week she was going to seek Trump’s help in securing her son’s release .

“We need leadership that’s going to stand up and bring Pennsylvanian Mark Fogel home to Pennsylvania, home to America. That’s what leaders do. That’s what a commander in chief does,” McCormick said.

The Democratic National Committee rolled out a billboard in Butler to greet Trump on Saturday that jabs at the former president’s economic record. The billboard, with the words “Donald Trump was a disaster for Pennsylvania,” will be located at the end of the Pullman Viaduct, about 10 minutes away from the Butler Farm Show.

“Pennsylvania voters remember Trump’s failures and know exactly how much is at stake in November,” DNC spokesperson Addy Toevs said in a statement. “That’s why they’ll reject Trump and his Project 2025 agenda, and once again send President Biden to the White House.”A DNC billboard appearing in Butler, Pennsylvania

As Trump rallied in western Pennsylvania on Saturday, first lady Jill Biden was also in the region to attend an Italian Sons and Daughters of America dinner in Pittsburgh.

And in the eastern half of the commonwealth, Vice President Kamala Harris was in Philadelphia to deliver the keynote address at the Asian Pacific Islander American Vote Presidential Town Hall on Saturday.

Saturday’s appearance in the Keystone State is Trump’s fifth visit to Pennsylvania this year, but his first in the western half of the commonwealth. Trump has made two 2024 appearances in Philadelphia, once for a rally on Temple University’s campus, and to deliver brief remarks at Sneaker Con in February. He also held a rally in the Lehigh Valley in April, and delivered a keynote address to a National Rifle Association gathering in Harrisburg in February.

“Donald Trump can take his twice-impeached, 34-time convicted, vowed-to-be-dictator-on-day-one, consumed by revenge, serial liar, Project 2025 self out of Pennsylvania and go back to his Mar-a-Lago golf course,” Pennsylvania Lt. Gov. Austin Davis said in a statement Saturday. “After he destroyed our economy, screwed over workers, and called for the ‘termination’ of the Constitution written in our state, Pennsylvania voters will send him packing in November. Again.”

Butler is a reliably red county where Trump won by double digits in the 2016 and 2020 general elections. Trump’s rally in Butler a few days before the 2020 presidential election was well-attended, although there were transportation issues for those attempting to exit the rally .

President Joe Biden has also been no stranger to Pennsylvania, making ten appearances the state so far, mostly in the southeast. Biden campaigned through the state last Sunday, appearing at a traditionally Black church in Northwest Philadelphia, and speaking to supporters in Philadelphia and Harrisburg.

As of Saturday morning, 18 Democrats serving in the U.S. House and one serving in the U.S. Senate have called on Biden to not seek the Democratic Party nomination, following his poor debate performance in late June, amid questions about whether he can beat Trump in November.

Biden has repeatedly said he does not plan to drop out of the race, reiterating his position at a rally in Michigan on Friday , where he was greeted with chants of “don’t you quit” and “we got your back,” from a crowd at Renaissance High School in Detroit.

“You made me the nominee, no one else — not the press, not the pundits, not the insiders, not donors,” Biden told the audience. “You, the voters. You decided. No one else. And I’m not going anywhere.”

Support for the president

Pennsylvania Democrats have largely remained behind the Scranton native. Gov. Josh Shapiro, who has been mentioned as a potential candidate for president or vice president should Biden step aside, has remained committed to Biden’s 2024 bid . U.S. Sen. John Fetterman (D-Pa.) has also emerged as a key campaign surrogate for Biden.

U.S. Sen. Bob Casey (D-Pa.), who is seeking a fourth term in office, has also stood by Biden’s side, while other Democrats in battleground states have distanced themselves from him. On Friday, speaking to reporters after an event in Darlington Township, Beaver County, Casey reiterated his support for Biden, saying it had not changed.

“I think we’re going to have a unified party between now and November,” Casey said. “This is a difficult period, but we’ll get there. But you know where I stand.”

McCormick has blasted the three-term senator for continuing to support Biden . His campaign put up billboards in Philadelphia, Pittsburgh and Scranton this week reading “Same old tired ideas,” with photos of the two Democrats.

In response to a question about whether he was worried about Biden being a potential drag on his Senate race and other down ballot races on Friday, Casey answered with a firm “no.”

Pennsylvania U.S. Rep. Chris Deluzio (D-17th District) who also spoke at the event in Darlington with Casey, urged people to “Google Project 2025, and what Donald Trump expects to do if he becomes president, again. It is dangerous,” he said. “It is threatening to our freedom and the fundamentals of our rule of law in this country. “

Deluzio added that he thinks Democrats will unite to “make sure Trump is never the president of this country again.”

However, U.S. Rep. Susan Wild (D-7th District) has expressed concern about Biden’s “electability” and U.S. Rep. Summer Lee (D-12th District) has said Biden needs to show “that he’s up for the task” of staying in the race.

Lee, who was scheduled to attend a Pittsburgh rally for Biden with Allegheny County Democrats on Friday but did not appear due to a schedule conflict, did not answer questions about Biden at an event in Pittsburgh with U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra. Lee said she would not answer a political question while at an event where she was appearing in her capacity as a member of Congress, TribLive reported.

Pennsylvania GOP unites behind Trump

Trump, who was convicted of 34 felony counts in a New York courtroom in May, largely has united the Pennsylvania Republican Party behind his candidacy. With the exception of U.S. Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick (R-1st District), every GOP member of the state’s congressional delegation has endorsed Trump;  Fitzpatrick has not announced who he will be voting for in November. The only Republican in Pennsylvania’s congressional delegation to represent a district Biden won in 2020, Fitzpatrick said he wrote in Mike Pence for president in 2016, but voted for Trump in 2020 .

Pennsylvania’s 19 electoral votes are critical to the candidates’ chances of winning in November. Biden campaign chair Jen O’Malley Dillon sent a memo to supporters listing Pennsylvania as one of the three “blue wall” states that provide the campaign the “clearest pathway” to reelection.

Recent polling indicates that Biden and Trump are engaged in a close race for Pennsylvania, although Trump holds a narrow edge. The Cook Political Report ranks Pennsylvania in the toss-up category. It has the largest number of electoral votes of any battleground state.

This report was first published by Pennsylvania Capital-Star, which is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity and includes Georgia Recorder.

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