Trump rallies in Butler for first time since attempted assassination: Live

Ex-president returns to Pennsylvania with Elon Musk for campaign rally at the site of his attempted assassination

Trump recalls 'as I was saying' as he speaks in Butler first time since assassination attempt

Donald Trump returned to the venue in Butler, Pennsylvania where he survived an assassination attempt just three months ago.

Billionaire and ardent Trump supporter Elon Musk joined the former president onstage at the rally, marking the first time the Tesla CEO has publicly appeared at a Trump campaign event since he endorsed him shortly after the shooting in July.

Musk falsely claimed that Democratic officials want to strip Americans’ of their voting rights, and suggested that if Trump does not win against Kamala Harris in November, “this will be the last election.”

JD Vance, Eric Trump and his wife Lara Trump — the co-chair of the Republican National Committee — and other high-profile Trump allies and donors joined the rally. The family of Corey Comperatore, a former fire chief who was killed in the attack, also was in attendance.

After a series of failures by the Secret Service at the July 13 rally, revealed in a damning Congressional report, the agency has provided a number of security enhancements. There is “a large coordinated presence of law enforcement” at the rally, a source in law enforcement familiar with the plan told The Independent.

Key Points

• Trump returns to the scene of his assassination attempt. A lot has changed since then
• Elon Musk in a ‘dark MAGA’ hat joins Trump in Butler
• Trump falsely suggests Democrats ‘tried to kill me'
• Trump repeats false claims about migrant children
• Can Kamala Harris beat Donald Trump? Latest poll updates

[6 October 2024 03:15 · Graig Graziosi]

ICYMI: Kamala Harris to appear on ‘Call Her Daddy’ podcast

Vice President Kamala Harris reportedly sat down for an interview on the Call Her Daddy podcast this week, with the episode set to release sometime next week.

The Democratic presidential candidate’s appearance on the mega popular podcast was confirmed by a campaign spokesperson to Axios, the outlet reports.

Call Her Daddy is Spotify’s second-biggest podcast, coming in just behind the Joe Rogan Experience.

Alex Cooper, the creator and host of Call Her Daddy, recorded her episode with Harris on Tuesday, according to Axios. The outlet reports that the episode will focus on reproductive rights and abortion as well as other issues important to women voters.

[6 October 2024 02:45 · Graig Graziosi]

White House debunks Trump claim that Hurricane Helene survivors were only given $750 payments

A spokesperson for FEMA debunked claims made by Donald Trump during his Butler, Pennsylvania rally on Saturday that “they” — Democrats — only gave $750 to victims of Hurricane Helene. Later claims circulating on social media claimed that the funds were only “a loan,” which FEMA denied.

“This is not true. We do not ask for this money back,” FEMA spokesperson Jaclyn Rothenberg wrote on X.

The White House issued a statement on Friday responding to Trump’s claims.

“More than 6,400 Federal personnel are on the ground, and more than $110 million in Federal assistance has been given to survivors, with more to come. We are sparing no resource as we work to ensure communities across the Southeast have prompt access to Federal resources that will enable them to both purchase essential items and begin their road to recovery and rebuilding,” the White House wrote in its statement.

The White House said the $750 figure is just an initial disbursement for people who immediately need financial assistance.

“It is an upfront, flexible payment to help cover essential items like food, water, baby formula, breastfeeding supplies, medication and other emergency supplies. There are other forms of assistance that you may qualify for to receive, and Serious Needs Assistance is an initial payment you may receive while FEMA assesses your eligibility for additional funds. $750 is what is immediately available to eligible survivors. In addition, survivors may qualify for more FEMA financial assistance, including to repair storm-related damage to homes and property, find a temporary place to stay, and receive compensation for lost crops and livestock.”

[6 October 2024 02:19 · Graig Graziosi]

Harris, Walz to appear on “60 Minutes” interview that Trump turned down

Vice President Kamala Harris and Governor Tim Walz will appear on a special edition of 60 Minutes on Monday.

According to 60 Minutes, the program offered an interview to the Trump campaign, which initially agreed, but then later declined the sit down.

[6 October 2024 01:55 · Graig Graziosi]

Trump falsely suggests his rivals ‘tried to kill me’ as he rallies at site of assassination attempt

Full story: Donald Trump returned to the site where he was nearly assassinated this summer, but his brush with death doesn’t appear to have changed him in the slightest.

On Saturday evening, Trump returned to Butler, Pennsylvania — walking out a live rendition of “God Bless the USA” by Lee Greenwood — and opened with the words “as I was saying,” referencing the fact that his previous rally at the site ended abruptly when a gunman fired at AR-15 toward the stage, grazing his ear and killing one attendee and injuring two others.

Rather than giving the former president a new perspective on the political temperature in the country, Trump’s rhetoric appears to have become more volatile; during the rally, he suggested that his political opponents “maybe tried to kill me.”

[6 October 2024 01:51 · Graig Graziosi]

Trump, surrounded by teleprompters, asks “isn’t it nice to have a president that doesn’t need a teleprompter?”

[6 October 2024 00:55 · Alex Woodward]

Full story: ‘Dark MAGA’ Elon Musk rallies onstage with Trump in Pennsylvania

Elon Musk, the CEO of X and Tesla, made the brazenly false claim that Democrats were going to eliminate elections in the US as he rallied onstage next to Donald Trump on Saturday night.

Trump — returning to the site where he was nearly assassinated in July — introduced Musk as the man who “saved free speech“ and as a “rocket builder,” claiming his company Space X was the only reason that American astronauts can return to space.

The world’s wealthiest man took the stage in a black “Make America Great Again” hat and told the crowd he was “dark MAGA” — seemingly referencing the fringe far-right meme — before taking a swipe at President Joe Biden and suggesting that Democrats were trying to strip away Americans’ rights to free spech, to bear arms, and to vote.

[6 October 2024 00:20 · Alex Woodward]

Trump falsely claims that migrant children are ‘dead, in slavery or just plain missing'

Trump repeated his false statements that tens of thousands of migrant children are missing or dead or “in slavery.”

He blamed Kamala Harris for children he claims are “dead, in slavery or just plain missing” after crossing the US-Mexico border.

He is radically misrepresenting a report from the Department of Homeland Security’s inspector general that blamed ICE for failing to consistently “monitor the location and status of unaccompanied migrant children” once they are released from federal government custody.

The report noted that more than 291,000 unaccompanied migrant children had not, as of May 2024, received a notice to appear in court. But there are many reasons why that would happen, from missing or not-yet updated paperwork to families who failed to make it to court, among other reasons.

His statement also comes as he faces scrutiny once again for his administration’s own family separation policy, in which federal authorities separated children including infants from thier parents or guardians after entering the US. Thousands had not yet been reunited with their families as of earlier this year.

[6 October 2024 00:14 · Alex Woodward]

Trump repeatedly claims Biden-Harris response to Hurricane Helene is ‘worse’ than Katrina

Thoughout his rally, Trump has repeatedly and falsely claimed that the Biden-Harris administration response to Hurricane Helene is “the worst job ever done on helping people through the ravages of a hurricane” — including Hurricane Katrina.

Trump has falsely claimed that the federal government’s emergency agencies have misspent billions of dollars or not at all.

“This is a Katrina for them,” he said on Saturday. “They say it’s the worst job ever done on helping people through the ravages of a hurricane.”

[6 October 2024 00:04 · Alex Woodward]

Photos: Elon Musk joins Trump onstage in Butler

Elon Musk, the world’s wealthiest person, spoke onstage at a campaign rally alongside Trump in Butler, Pennsylvania, marking the first time that the billionaire has publicly campaigned with the former president since declaring his support this summer.

(AP)

(AFP via Getty Images)

(AP)

[5 October 2024 23:50 · Graig Graziosi]

“Dark MAGA” Elon Musk rallies onstage with Trump in Pennsylvania, suggests Democrats will eliminate elections in America

Elon Musk, the CEO of X and Tesla, made a plea for Americans to vote for Trump during the former president’s rally in Butler, Pennsylvania.

He said he believed that if Trump loses, it would be the last election in America, insinuating that Democrats would eliminate elections under a Kamala Harris administration.

There is no evidence supporting that claim.