Washington Examiner columnist Salena Zito reflected on the one-year anniversary of the first assassination attempt against President Donald Trump, crediting him with preventing panic as shots were fired during his 2024 presidential campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania.
The Butler rally was crowded on July 13, 2024 when a gunman opened fire on Trump, who was a presidential candidate at the time. While Trump suffered a wound when one bullet grazed his ear, others were injured and volunteer firefighter Corey Comperatore died as a result of the shooting. Still, no one in the crowd stirred up a stampede that could have injured far more.
As a reporter, Zito was present at the Butler rally with her daughter and son-in-law.
“Nobody, panicked, right? Nobody was screaming and yelling from in that crowd. And I think it had a lot to do with his decision about why he said, ‘Fight! Fight! Fight!’” Zito said on Newsmax’s Greg Kelly Reports on Saturday.
“He told me — and he’s repeated this just a couple weeks ago — ‘I wasn’t Donald Trump when I said, Fight! Fight! Fight! I was representing the country. … I’m supposed to project our grit, our exceptionalism, our strength,’” Zito paraphrased Trump.
In her new book, Butler: The Untold Story of the Near Assassination of Donald Trump and the Fight for America’s Heartland, Zito detailed the seven phone calls she received the day after the Butler shooting. The cover art of her latest release is a photograph taken by her daughter the day of the rally. According to Zito, she was among the last people to speak to Trump before he took the stage.
Since the assassination attempt, the Secret Service has suspended six agents without pay in its one-year update on the investigation. Their respective suspensions ranged from 10 days to 42 days.