New York: Republican Presidential Candidate Donald Trump made a defiant appearance with techno entrepreneur Elon Musk at the site of the failed assassination calling it a "hallowed place" where he said he was saved by providential intervention.
With elections exactly a month away, Trump, standing behind bullet-proof glass on the podium on Saturday where in July the sniper's bullet hurt his ear, just millimetres away from taking a fatal turn, recalled what he said were "16 harrowing seconds" as he praised the Secret Service agents who pushed him down and surrounded him with their bodies and paid tributes to Corey Comperatore who was killed.
With innuendos, he spoke of dark forces that may have been behind the assassination attempt.
He identified them as aligned with the lobbyists, bureaucrats, and "corrupt special interests" and said they "have slandered me, impeached me, and indicted me, tried to throw me off the ballot, and who knows maybe even tried to kill me".
His son Eric, who spoke before him, went further alleging, "They tried to kill him. And it's because the Democratic Party, they can't do anything right".
The affiliations of the men involved in the attempts on Trump's life are murky.
The 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks, who shot at the Butler rally, was registered as a Republican, but donated to Democratic causes, while the man whose alleged attempt in Florida was thwarted, Ryan Routh, was once registered as a Democrat, said he had voted for Trump in 2016, but turned against him and in March voted in the North Carolina Democratic primary.
A chart about illegal immigration that was on the screen at the side of the podium on July 13, was back as he began his speech on Saturday. He turned to look at that chart on that day and that head movement moved it away from the bullet's trajectory.
"Oh, I love that, I love that chart," he said.
He pointed to the numbers on that chart that showed the low illegal immigration to the US during his term shooting up during the administration of President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris who is now the Democratic Party candidate against him.
Illegal immigration was a theme he returned to during his speech, blaming Harris for letting in criminals and terrorists through her "open border" policies.
"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".
He added, "I will never quit, I will never bend, I will never break, I will never yield, not even in the face of death itself".
Musk, who has endorsed Trump, goofily hopped onto the stage at the political rally of thousands, an alien milieu for the man with eyes on Mars, and made a speech punctuated by nervous laughter and head bobbing. He said that "this will be the last election" if there isn't a voter turnout to help Trump win.
A critic of Twitter banning politicians, including Trump for violations of what it asserted were its codes, Musk bought I will never quit, I will never bend, I will never break, I will never yield, not even in the face of death itself. Ait rebranding it as X and reinstated Trump.
He said, "Free speech is the bedrock of democracy. And if people don't know what's what's going on, if they don't know the truth, how can you, how can you make an informed vote? You must have free speech in order to have democracy."
Musk said the integrity of elections was threatened by actions of some states like California, which last week made it illegal to ask a voter for identification.
Trump, who has said he would appoint Musk to head a panel on government efficiency, called him the" smartest man" and a "very advanced person".
He asked him to achieve his mission of sending people to Mars before 2030 when his term would end if he were elected. Trump praised Vance and his wife as brilliant and said their children's academic performance was guaranteed.
He said Vance was "great" in last week's debate with Democratic Party Vice Presidential candidate Tim Walz.
But he also ribbed him.
After a professional opera singer sang the Catholic hymn, "Ave Maria", following a moment of silence for Corey Comperatore who was killed by the sniper in July, Trump turned to Vance, "Can you do that Mr Vice President? I don't think JD can do that".
There was hardly anything relating to foreign policy, except Trump's threats to impose high tariffs on some imports, retaliating against those setting high import duties and corporate tax cuts for companies bringing manufacturing back to the US.
Eric Trump mentioned Pakistan getting $100 billion in US aid and then hiding al-Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden near its national military academy.
Trump repeated his lines about Biden and Harris being the worst leaders, and this time added their administration's performance in the recent hurricane which killed more than 220 people and caused momentous damage across several states.
To fight US inflation, he said he would look to "liquid gold" which he said the US has more of than Saudi Arabia and Russia. With a massive programme to exploit oil and gas, he would make energy prices fall dramatically while making the US reap the benefits of being a major global exporter. (IANS)
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