Trump's talk with Elon Musk includes discussion about Butler County assassination attempt
Former President Donald Trump told X owner Elon Musk he plans a return to Butler County in October for a campaign rally before the presidential election.
The livestream was intended to be a normal conversation between Trump and Musk and not an interview, Musk said.
The talk was initially set to start at 8 p.m., but was delayed for more than 30 minutes because of what Musk termed an attack on the site’s servers.
After exchanging pleasantries, the conversation started with Trump detailing the July 13 assassination attempt in Butler County.
Although he told Republicans he’d only detail what happened once, during his July 19 speech at the party’s convention, Trump has mentioned the shooting at rallies across the country and spent about 20 minutes talking about what happened with Musk.
He knew he was shot, and he knew he was only hit in the ear, Trump told Musk.
He marveled at how the shooting happened at the exact moment when he was referring to a slide he intended to display at the rally and he gestured.
He attributed it to divine intervention.
“I’m now more of a believer,” Trump told Musk.
He also mentioned rally attendee, Corey Comperatore, 50, of Buffalo Township, who was killed in the shooting at the Butler Farm Show grounds, calling Comperatore “a great Trumper.”
An unnamed Trump friend donated $1 million to Comperatore’s family, Trump told Musk.
He also lauded the other men who were hurt at the rally, although not by name.
Moon Township resident James Copenhaver, was released from the hospital July 26 and Marine veteran David Dutch, 57, of Plum, was discharged from a hospital July 24.
Trump was effusive in his praise for the medical treatment he received at Butler Memorial Hospital and saluted the local police who noticed the shooter, Thomas Matthew Crooks, 20, of Bethel Park, before the shots were fired.
Crooks was killed by the Secret Service after he fired shots, wounding Trump, killing Comperatore and seriously injuring Copenhaver and Dutch.
When he returns to Butler County, he’ll start his speech with “As I was saying,” Trump told Musk.
Tom Davidson is a TribLive news editor. He has been a journalist in Western Pennsylvania for more than 25 years. He can be reached at tdavidson@triblive.com.
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