Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump is rushed offstage during a rally on July 13, 2024, in Butler, Pennsylvania. | Source: Anna Moneymaker / Getty
UPDATED: 8:30 p.m. ET
Reports and photos suggest that Donald Trump was shot during a rally in Pennsylvania on Saturday afternoon. A suspect has been killed and a spectator was shot, according to reports.
Law enforcement has begun investigating the shooting as a possible assassination attempt.
MORE: MAGA World Claims ‘Biden Sent The Orders’ For Trump To Be Shot
The Associated Press reported:
Donald Trump was whisked off the stage at a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania after apparent gunshots rang through the crowd.
The former president and presumptive Republican nominee was showing off a chart of border crossing numbers during his last rally before the Republican National Convention opens Monday when bangs started ringing through the crowd. Trump could be seen reaching with his right hand toward his neck. There appeared to be blood on his face.
Alleged witnesses claimed on social media that they heard as many as 10 gunshots in rapid succession.
Video footage from the moment the alleged gunshots rang out was also posted on social media.
As many as 50,000 people were in attendance at the rally held in a Pittsburgh suburb.
The New York Times reported that Trump was “safe” after the reported gunshots.
“Trump’s ear appeared to be bleeding as he was rushed off the stage,” the Times reported.
Source: Anna Moneymaker / Getty
More from the Times:
The former president ducked quickly after the noises began, with the sound coming from the bleachers to the left of where he was standing at a lectern. The noises came in two groups, and smoke rose from that section of the bleachers.
As members of the crowd began screaming, Mr. Trump was tackled by Secret Service agents. Officials shouted for the crowd to duck and cover, whisking members of the news media off the press riser where they had been watching Mr. Trump’s speech.
After a brief pause, Mr. Trump rose, surrounded by a group of uniformed Secret Service members. He pumped his fist to the crowd, and then was rushed off the stage and ushered into his motorcade, which quickly left the venue, the Butler Farm Show.
Trump is rushed offstage during a rally on July 13, 2024, in Butler, Pennsylvania. | Source: Anna Moneymaker / Getty
President Joe Biden swiftly condemned the shooting.
However, MAGA World’s ultra-conservative members still managed to blame Biden for the shooting.
This is a breaking news story that will be updated as additional information becomes available.
Judging from the instant response on social media to the reports that Trump got shot, the incident has invigorated the Republican presidential candidate’s base of supporters.
The reported shooting comes after MAGA conservatives and surrogates for Trump’s campaign have appeared to use rhetoric inciting political violence during this election cycle.
Last September, former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee warned that future elections will be decided at gunpoint.
“Do you know how political opponents to those in power are dealt with in third-world dictatorships, banana republics and communist regimes?” Huckabee asked his audience rhetorically at a taping of his “Huckabee” show. “Well, it’s simple. People in power use their police agencies to arrest their opponents for made-up crimes in an attempt to discredit them, bankrupt them, imprison them, exile them, or all of the above.”
Huckabee continued: “And if you’re not paying attention, you may not realize that Joe Biden is using exactly those tactics to make sure Donald Trump is not his opponent in 2024. Here’s the problem: if these tactics end up working to keep Trump from winning or even running in 2024, it is going to be the last American election decided by ballots rather than bullets.”
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