Trump holds first outdoor rally since assassination attempt

In his first outdoor rally since his July 13 near assassination in Butler, Pennsylvania, Trump spoke to a crowd in Asheboro, North Carolina, Wednesday, surrounded by panes of bulletproof glass. The rally was held between hangars at the North Carolina Aviation Museum. Storage boxes were stacked around the perimeter to create additional walls and to block sight lines, and snipers were positioned on all the roofs. 

During the rally, Trump spoke of the Biden administration’s national security failures, notably the botched Afghanistan withdrawal and the Russia/Ukraine and Gaza wars. Trump said that if he wins the election, he will ask for the resignation of every senior military official involved with the withdrawal from Afghanistan. 

The former president pledged that he would get “critical race theory and transgender insanity the hell out of our US armed forces.

“Our warriors should be focused on defeating America’s enemies, not figuring out their genders,” he added.  

Trump also said he would bring major investments into the Army and launch the largest peace-time recruitment drive in the United States’s history. 

Trump addressed the Obamas’ comments at the Democratic National Convention Tuesday night, who, among others, particularly dug into him. “He was very nasty last night,” Trump said. “I try and be nice to people, you know. But it’s a little tough when they get personal.”  

At the DNC in Chicago, speaker after speaker called Trump a threat to the nation and democracy. Trump mocked the event, calling it a “charade.”

At one point in the rally, the former president paused mid-speech as supporters in the crowd called for medics. “What’s wrong?” he asked the crowd. “A doctor please,” the former president called for, noting the heat. As medical personnel helped an elderly woman who had collapsed, Trump left his podium to give her a hug.  

“You know, they come two days, three days early, and it’s a lot. It’s a lot of stress,” Trump said after returning to the podium.

Trump continues to hold open-air rallies, which have become a hallmark of his campaign, despite the Secret Service’s encouraging of him not to. 

The rally came the same day a bipartisan congressional task force looking into the July 13 shooting was set to meet with the FBI about the investigation.  

As the DNC continues, ending tonight, Trump and Vance continue their counter-programming, campaigning in battleground states on key election issues. Trump will visit Glendale, Arizona on Friday with Turning Point PAC, teasing a special guest joining him, which is strongly rumored to be Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who appears set to end his presidential campaign.