Former President Donald Trump returned to Butler, Pennsylvania, the site of the first assassination attempt against him, to rally his supporters just a month before Election Day.
“Exactly 12 weeks ago this evening, on this very ground, a cold-blooded assassin aimed to silence me and to silence the greatest movement, MAGA, in the history of our country, MAGA,” Trump said Oct. 5, referring to his “Make America Great Again” catchphrase. “For 16 harrowing seconds during the gunfire, time stopped as this vicious monster unleashed pure evil from his sniper’s perch, not so far away. But by the hand of providence and the grace of God, that villain did not succeed in his goal.”
Early in his address, Trump spoke about Corey Comperatore, a volunteer firefighter who’d been in the July 13 crowd and whom Thomas Matthew Crooks killed. One of Crooks’ bullets grazed Trump’s ear.
A Secret Service countersniper killed Crooks.
Trump described Comperatore as a “folk hero” and called for a moment of silence at 6:11 p.m., the moment the shooting had begun July 13. After the pause, bells rang and a singer near the stage sang “Ave Maria.”
Trump’s speech included claims about the Biden-Harris administration’s response to Hurricane Helene, illegal immigration and the economy.
We fact-checked him.
Attendees listen as former President Donald Trump speaks Oct. 5, 2024, at a campaign rally in Butler, Pa. (AP)
Trump: “I love that chart. I love that graph. Isn’t it a beautiful thing? But also beautiful because, look at the number, that’s the day I left office. It was the lowest Border Patrol, the lowest it’s ever been. Illegal Immigration.
Trump has said that if he hadn’t turned his head to look at the chart July 13, the bullet would have gone through his head during the assassination attempt. PolitiFact has fact-checked the contents of the chart.
Trump added misleading markings on a chart originally posted by Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis.
Trump highlighted a low migrant encounter total during April 2020 and claimed that was when he left office. But Trump’s presidency ended in January 2021.
That April 2020 period also marked the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic, when lockdowns and travel restrictions contributed to decreased migration.
The chart also alluded to Trump’s Pants on Fire claim that millions of immigrants came illegally to the U.S. from jails, prisons or mental institutions during Biden’s administration. Immigration experts have told PolitiFact there is no proof that large numbers of people from prisons or mental institutions are coming to the U.S.
“They’re offering them $750 to people whose homes have been washed away. And yet we send tens of billions of dollars to foreign countries that most people have never heard of.”
We rated a version of this claim False. Vice President Kamala Harris has not said people affected by Hurricane Helene will only get $750 from the federal government.
The $750 is under the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s Serious Needs Assistance program, which covers immediate needs after a disaster, including “food, water, baby formula, breastfeeding supplies, medication and other emergency supplies.” Through this program, the White House said, FEMA paid out more than $1 million to more than 1,400 North Carolina households within a day.
As of Oct. 4, FEMA said the Biden administration provided more than $45 million “in flexible, up-front funding” to Hurricane Helene survivors. The agency said it has provided more than 11.5 million meals, 3.32 million gallons of water, 150 generators and 400,000 tarps to the affected region.
On Oct. 2, in Augusta, Georgia, Harris said FEMA was also providing funding for home repairs and hotel costs.
Hours before Helene made landfall near Perry, Florida, late Sept. 26, Biden met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and announced a new $8 billion security assistance package for Ukraine in its war with Russia. Congress had already appropriated the funding for Ukraine.
“When you look at the crime, look at the crime, look at the people that are coming in. Murderers, 13,099 murderers, let in over the last short period of time.”
False. Trump is referring to a figure from a Sept. 25 Immigration and Customs Enforcement letter saying 13,099 immigrants convicted of homicide are not in immigration detention. But that data goes back 40 years; it doesn’t specify that those 13,099 people entered the U.S. during the Biden-Harris administration.
Noncitizens convicted of crimes may not be in immigration detention for multiple reasons. For one, they may be in law enforcement custody serving time in prison.
A 2001 Supreme Court ruling also said people cannot be detained indefinitely. This means people from countries that don’t accept deportation…
Read More: PolitiFact: Donald Trump returns to Butler, Pennsylvania, site of first