UNIONDALE, New York – Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump claimed he was being targeted by “radical left” forces and vowed to campaign with renewed purpose at his first full-fledged campaign rally since an alleged second assassination attempt on Sept 15.
“These encounters with death have not broken my will,” he told a raucous crowd in Uniondale, New York, 48km from Manhattan. “They have only hardened my resolve.”
Trump spoke at a Long Island sports arena packed with more than 10,000 supporters even though New York, which leans heavily Democratic, is not considered to be a competitive state in the Nov 5 election.
Local Democrats said they didn’t mind having Trump in the region, as it was keeping him from campaigning in battleground states set to decide the election outcome.
Trump wasted no time referencing the Sept 15 arrest of a gunman authorities allege planned to shoot Trump while he was golfing on his course in West Palm Beach, Florida.
In July, another gunman wounded Trump as he gave a speech in Pennsylvania.
“God has now spared my life,” Trump said. “Not once, but twice.”
Trump blamed a “violent, radical-left monster” for the alleged attempt on his life, and later used similar language to describe his opponent in the election, Democrat Kamala Harris.
Trump did not cite any evidence backing his claim that the “radical left” was responsible for the attempts on his life.
Ryan Routh, 58, has been charged with two gun-related crimes following his arrest on Sunday.
Routh has mocked President Joe Biden on social media and suggested in a 2023 self-published book that he voted for Trump in 2016, but later wrote that backing Trump was a “terrible mistake.”
Ms Harris denounced political violence after the Sept 15 incident.
Trump thanked the Teamsters union, which earlier on Sept 18 broke from a longstanding tradition of making an endorsement in the presidential race in what was a blow to Ms Harris campaign.
The Teamsters have endorsed every Democratic candidate for president since 2000.
Trump attributed the decision to widespread support for him among the union rank-and-file. “This was a surprise,” he said.
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Publish date : 2024-09-18 17:14:00
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