Donald Trump calls for unity among supporters with a public plea of don’t let ‘evil win’.
Mere days before July 11, 2024, a twenty-year-old searched the web for the locations of the Democratic National Convention, as well as nearby Trump Rallies. The man in question, Thomas Crooks, would be later killed after attempting to shoot Donald Trump at 6:11 pm on July 11. The aftermath of the attempted shooting further revealed Trump’s electoral strategies and simultaneously created increased unity among his core supporters.
Thomas Crooks decided on the Trump Rally in Butler, Pennsylvania. He scouted the rally site and later used a drone to further scout it by tracing a digital flight path. That afternoon, Crooks searched for a local gun store and ammunition for a gun registered to his father. Not seven minutes after Trump took the stage, rally attendants shouted to law enforcement in an attempt to notice the man positioned on a surrounding rooftop. By 6:11 pm, Trump had been shot in the ear. He attempted to duck behind the podium as the shots fired. Not a minute passed before law enforcement intervened and the Secret Service’s Counter Assault Team shot Crooks in the head. At 6:13, Trump, blood streaming down the side of his face, raised a fist as he was wrestled away by the service.
Through a bulletproof barrier, Donald Trump delivers a speech in Butler, Pennsylvania to motivate core support on October 5, 2024.
https://www.butlereagle.com/20241005/live-updates-read-the-latest-news-from-the-butler-trump-rally
Trump said the attempt “is a chance to bring the country together.” Trump has since used the events on July 13 to spur on his right-wing supporters; “At this moment, it is more important than ever that we stand united, and show our true character as Americans, remaining strong and determined, and not allowing evil to win.” While some might think that the ‘evil’ Trump is referencing is Thomas Crooks, others know that he is truly making a statement towards Democrats, one of seeming resistance despite the surge in Kamala Harris’s numbers. In more recent events, on October 5, Trump returned to the rally site at which he was shot. “Twelve weeks ago, we all took a bullet for America, 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.” In part, Trump did this to gather support for his campaign, while also making a calculated play to swing Pennsylvania his way. In 2016, he lost Pennsylvania to Hillary Clinton. With this strategic decision, Trump can use the reappearance in Butler, Pennsylvania to increase electoral participation and acquire a swing state. Donald Trump’s calculated behavior after the assassination attempt by Thomas Crooks on July 13 further confirms his strategies for the election in November to stimulate right-wing votes.
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