This may have been the most consequential campaign event of 2024.

On October 5, GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump returned to the scene of the crime, delivering a campaign address in Butler, Pennsylvania, to what may have been the largest rally crowd of his political career. Exactly 12 weeks earlier, Trump had addressed supporters from the very same spot when a deranged gunman opened fire from a nearby rooftop, almost killing the former president. “So, as I was saying,” Trump began, picking up where he left off at his last Butler rally before it had abruptly ended. The crowd laughed, setting the stage for a somber but optimistic stump speech.

Before getting into campaign mode, the 45th president devoted an extended period at the beginning of his speech to paying tribute to Corey Comperatore, a supporter who, three months earlier, was killed protecting his family from the would-be assassin’s bullets. Comperatore’s family attended the rally. Trump spoke with them privately shortly after touching down in Pennsylvania.

Reflections and Hard Truths from Trump

At 6:11 p.m., the exact time the shooting started at the previous Butler rally, Trump called for a moment of silence, which preceded a rendition of Ave Maria by opera singer Christopher Macchio. The former president also acknowledged and praised David Dutch and James Copenhaver, who were both wounded by gunfire at the July 13 rally.

In reference to the attempted assassination – the first of two attempts on his life – Trump said, “Over the past eight years, those who want to stop us from achieving this future have slandered me, impeached me, indicted me, tried to throw me off the ballot, and – who knows – maybe even tried to kill me. But I’ve never stopped fighting for you.”

Midway through the event, Trump invited billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk to the podium. The founder of Tesla and SpaceX lauded Trump’s “courage under fire” and unleashed what most of the rally-goers would probably have agreed was the best quip of the night: “The true test of someone’s character is how they behave under fire,” Musk said, “and we had one president who couldn’t climb a flight of stairs, and another who was fist pumping after getting shot.”

Repeatedly urging everyone watching the rally to participate in the upcoming election, Musk said:

“There’s one request – very important. Register to vote. And get everyone you know, and everyone you don’t know … drag them to register to vote. There’s only two days left to register to vote in Georgia and Arizona. Forty-eight hours. Text people now … Now, and then make sure they actually do vote. If they don’t, this’ll be the last election. That’s my prediction.”

Throughout the rally, Trump was appropriately subdued. Yet he also appeared optimistic about his chances of winning in November and swiftly reversing the effects of the last four years under the Biden-Harris agenda. There were no references to the still-debated outcome of the 2020 presidential election. Apart from the occasional barb, there were no personal attacks on Joe Biden and Kamala Harris. Instead, Trump stuck to questioning their competency and their willingness to prioritize the prosperity and safety of Americans.

This second Butler rally may turn out to be the most important and consequential campaign event in 2024, and Trump stayed on message. Most of the polls – at least at first glance – indicate that this race for the White House is too close to call. The reality could be quite different, and more than a few political operatives – especially on the right – are arguing that it is. The first early votes have already been cast, but from the Trump perspective, the Butler assassination attempt – and his return to the scene of that crime 12 weeks later – may have had a weirdly serendipitous timing to it.