Former President Donald Trump returned to Butler, Pennsylvania , for a rally Saturday, and attendees reported a much more somber tone than his other events.
After surviving the first assassination attempt against a current or former president in decades, Trump returned to the site on Saturday, in what was one of the most anticipated rallies of the 2024 election cycle. Though it drew a huge crowd, attendees said excitement was not the word to describe the mood — everybody was conscious of what happened 12 weeks prior.
“A supporter of President Trump's died here, and two were critically injured, so to say that I'm excited to come back here is … not correct,” Blake Marnell told the Washington Examiner. “There's … an energy to this rally, but … for me, it's not excitement. Maybe for other people coming here for the first time, it might be, but for me, personally, it's one more of remembrance and closing the chapter and moving forward for the rest of the campaign, and … using this as something to build off of in terms of our, resolve to continue support President Trump.
“But it's not like, ‘Hey, super excited to go back to where the president was shot and somebody died.’ It's not … so I don't have that type of excitement. I have a respect for what occurred here. Let's put it that way.”
Marnell, distinguished by his signature brick suit, has attended over 100 rallies, by Trump’s estimation. The former president frequently calls him out.
Artist Scott LoBaido, who later spoke and did a speed painting onstage before Trump’s arrival, echoed Marnell’s emotional sentiment.
“I've been to many Trump rallies, and the energy is always … something you can't explain,” LoBaido told the Washington Examiner. “But today's both a Trump rally, again, America, rah, rah, rah. But more importantly, it is a tribute. A dedication, paying homage and honor to a legend. A man that I think 100 years from now, they will be singing songs around campfires. This guy's a fireman, a family man, a God man, a patriot man, Corey Comperatore. And that's what we're here today for.
“So I think today is going to be the most important of all the rallies, that I've ever been to, anyway, because of the emotion that people are going to finally see, even on the other side of the political spectrum, who don't like Trump, who don't like the MAGA movement. They're just going to see what is needed to be seen, which is the emotional side of not only Trump, but us, the people that Trump represents.”
His assistant, Michael LoBaido, had similar comments.
“I think today will be more sentimental, you know?” he said. "I think it's going to be a very emotional day. I think it's going to be extra special."
Dan Beazley arrived at the rally rolling a 75-pound cross, holding it the way Jesus Christ is depicted walking to Golgotha.
“I'm here to support God this morning,” he told the Washington Examiner. "And we all know who saved … Trump back in July, God saved him. … It's undeniable.”
Beazley said he carries the cross to numerous sites of tragedy throughout the United States, previously carrying it to Uvalde, Texas, the sites of other school shootings, and natural disaster sites. He said he’ll take it to North Carolina to areas affected by Hurricane Helene soon.
“There was a vigil for Comperatore, so I brought the cross to his vigil, which was just absolutely amazing and such a tribute to him and all the first responders,” he said. “We're here to not only support Corey today and his family, but to support all the first responders that were here that day, and for all the first responders that are continuing to keep us safe every single day in this country.”
Beazley later set up the cross at the entrance of the lines to get into the rally, near a statue of Trump pumping his fist.
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Attendees interviewed after the rally gave similar answers. Conservative activist Scott Presler described the “sea of people” as “somber.”
“Usually, Trump rallies are just electricity, just excitement,” Presler said. “And I think there was a somberness with this rally that was very touching, that people understood this was the site of an assassination attempt. This is where Donald Trump took a bullet that had it gone a little bit to the left, then he may not be here today. And so I think people are taking this election with the seriousness that it deserves the gravity of the situation. And having Elon Musk here, I mean, this truly was a historic day in American history.”
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