ELON MUSK TO JOIN TRUMP FOR RALLY AT SITE OF FIRST ASSASSINATION ATTEMPT

Elon Musk has said he is going to join Donald Trump for an election rally at the site of a July assassination attempt on the former president’s life.

Musk, 53, announced on Friday that he will appear at the event in Butler, Pennsylvania, the following day.

Trump, who served as the United States president from 2017 to 2021, is in the midst of a tight race for a second term in November, and Pennsylvania is a key swing state.

Also due to attend on Saturday are Trump’s running mate, Senator JD Vance, and his son, Eric Trump.

“I will be there to support,” Musk wrote on his social media platform X, retweeting Trump’s own promotion of the rally.

After Trump, 78, was shot at by a gunman — the bullet grazing his ear — Musk announced he would be supporting the Republican in his bid to win a second term.

“I fully endorse President Trump and hope for his rapid recovery,” Musk wrote after the incident.

He later posted: “The martyr lived.”

The shooting on July 13, however, killed a Trump supporter, Corey Comperatore, who was listening to the former president speaking. Several others were injured.

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Musk’s increasing influence

Musk has become more politically engaged as the November election approaches, frequently posting about his support for Trump and attacking Democrats.

Last month, Musk deleted one of his posts saying “no one is even trying” to assassinate President Joe Biden or Vice President Kamala Harris, the former and current Democratic candidates, respectively.

Amid the ensuing outcry, Musk dismissed his comment as a joke. “Turns out that jokes are way less funny if people don’t know the context and the delivery is in plain text,” he said.

Earlier this year, Musk said he was contributing $45m to a political action committee, America PAC, that was supporting Trump’s run.

Trump has often spoken warmly of Musk, even saying he backs the billionaire’s electrical vehicle production, despite having long attacked the industry by claiming it harms workers in traditional car plants. 

In August, Trump agreed to be interviewed by Musk on X. During their hour-long conversation, the former president said he admired the fact that Musk fired some of his employees after they complained about working conditions.

“I love it,” Trump said. “I look at what you do. You just walk in, and you just say, ‘You wanna quit?’ They go on strike. I won’t mention the name of the company, but they go on strike and you say, ‘That’s OK. You’re all gone … Every one of you is gone.’”

Trump also pledged to make Musk the head of a proposed “government efficiency” office that would slash regulations and audit other branches of the government.

Musk’s backing of Trump is not his first foray into politics. Musk has publicly feuded with Brazilian Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes, and in May 2023, he hosted Florida Governor Ron DeSantis as the Republican politician announced his short-lived bid for the presidency.

As with Musk’s August conversation with Trump, that conversation with DeSantis was broadcast on X and marred by glitches. 

Butler rally a rebuke to ‘evil assassin’

July’s assassination attempt in Butler has spurred ongoing discussions about political violence in the US, as well as questions about the staffing and training of the Secret Service agents tasked with protecting Trump.

The shooter, 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks, was killed at the scene when snipers returned fire.

Last month, Trump was the target of a second assassination plot as well.

The attempt was foiled by a Secret Service agent who was escorting the former president as he played at his private golf course in Florida. The agent reportedly saw the barrel of a rifle pointing through a fence and opened fire.

The suspect, Ryan Routh, 58, has pleaded not guilty to five charges including “attempted assassination of a presidential candidate”.

“President Trump’s return to Butler will stand as a tribute to the American spirit,” his campaign said in a statement.

“In America, we do not let monsters like that evil assassin have the last word.”