'Assassin Aimed to Silence Me': Trump Returns to Site of Assassination Attempt in Pennsylvania

New Delhi: Republican Presidential candidate Donald Trump on Saturday returned to the Pennsylvania fairgrounds where he escaped an assaSsination attempt in July. Addressing the crowd, Trump urged them to deliver an Election Day victory that he tied to his survival of the shooting.

The former United States president picked up where he left off in July when a gunman’s bullet hit his ear, leaving him bleeding and shocked. He began his address with, “As I was saying,” and gestured toward an immigration chart he was looking at when the gunfire began.

'We all took a bullet for America': Trump

“Twelve weeks ago, we all took a bullet for America,” Trump said. “All we are all asking is that everyone goes out and votes. We got to win. We can’t let this happen to our country.”

“We fought together. We have endured together. We have pushed onward together,” Trump said. “And right here in Pennsylvania, we have bled together. We’ve bled," he further said.

At the beginning of the rally, the Presidental candidate asked for a moment of silence to honor firefighter Corey Comperatore, who lost his life in the July shooting incident. While classical singer Christopher Macchio sang “Ave Maria” after a bell rung at the same time that gunfire began on July 13.

The rally saw the presence of several of Comperatore’s family members, including his widow, Helen, who stood during Trump’s remarks next to the former president’s daughter-in-law, Lara Trump.

During the rally, Trump also recalled the shooting incident, calling the gunman "a cold-blooded assassin" who tried to "silence the greatest movement, MAGA".

"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. MAGA, We love MAGA. For 16 harrowing seconds during the gunfire time stopped as this vicious monster unleashed pure evil from his sniper's perch, not so far away, but by the hand of providence and the grace of God, that villain did not succeed in his goal did not come close. He did not stop our movement. He did not break out our spirit. He did not shake our unyielding resolve to save America from evils of poverty, hatred and destruction. Yet we are here this evening in record numbers," he added.

Trump was joined by Tesla owner Elon Musk and his running mate, Senator J D Vance, Trump (78) as he made a passionate plea to "defeat" Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic candidate in the November 5 presidential poll.

"We must stop her country-destroying regime, radical-left agenda once and for all. We cannot have it happen. So you must get out and you must vote," Trump said in Pennsylvania, key battleground state.

Launching a blistering attack on Harris, Trump accused her of being a failure on multiple fronts, including border security and economy. "She imposed a natural gas export ban on Pennsylvania, which is killing your energy workers and your pricing," he said.

'They did a coup of Biden': Trump Attacks Harris

"Kamala Harris is a radical-left Marxist. She is a woman that is not respected in Congress . She was laughed at Congress. Nobody thought she could win. They did a coup of Biden. Whether you like him or not, I am not a particularly big fan. We had a debate, and the debate ended. And all of a sudden, they come to him, and they say, we want you out. You are not going to win the election. And he said, 'I do not want to get out'," Trump said.

"She is a person that rated even worse in every statistic than any other senator. She was rated at the bottom of the US Senate. She has destroyed everything she touched," Trump further said.

The Ex-US president said if he returns to power, he would seal the border and stop the migrant invasion into the country on the first day of his presidency. "We will begin the largest deportation operation in the history of the United States," he said, adding that 2024 is the most significant election in US history.

(With inputs from Agencies)