Former US President and Republican candidate for the White House, Donald Trump, held his first outdoor rally on Wednesday (21), with reinforced security, since the assassination attempt he suffered in July, during another event of this type.
The chosen location was the city of Asheboro, in the state of North Carolina. This time, Trump spoke protected by a panel of bulletproof glass.
Despite the extra security measures, at a certain point during the speech, he left the protected space a little to hug a woman in the audience who was not feeling well.
The rally touched on national security, a topic the former president used to argue that the United States was stronger under his leadership and to claim that wars like the one in Ukraine would not have happened if he had been in office.
“My attitude kept us out of wars. I stopped wars with phone calls,” he said.
Trump repeated his accusation that current President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris are leading the US “to the precipice of World War III.” He himself, he said, will bring peace back to the world.
The former president also highlighted the promise to build an Iron Dome system in the US, like Israel’s, to intercept missiles.
“We help Israel and other countries, [o ex-presidente] Ronald Reagan wanted this many years ago. He was right, but at the time we didn’t have the technology. Today we have incredible technology. Other countries have it, and this country should have it,” he said.
Trump, 78, was shot in the right ear on July 13 during a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania.
The shooter was on the roof of a small building near the open space where the rally was being held and, before being shot by police, shot and killed one member of the audience and injured two others.
Then-Director of the US Secret Service Kimberly Cheatle resigned ten days later over security lapses and after saying the assassination attempt was the agency’s “biggest operational failure” “in decades.”
Last week, it was reported that the Secret Service had approved a plan to increase Trump’s security that includes the use of bulletproof glass panels. Such bulletproof devices are typically only provided to presidents and vice presidents when deemed necessary for outdoor events.
Trump’s public appearance on Wednesday, the first to be made with this new device, is part of an intense week of campaigning in which he and his vice presidential candidate, Senator JD Vance, try to neutralize the media spotlight that hangs over the Democratic National Convention in Chicago, which made Kamala Harris’ candidacy for the White House official.
Trump and his team will visit four key states in the coming days: Pennsylvania, Michigan, North Carolina and Arizona, where they will focus on issues crucial to conservatives in the run-up to the November 5 presidential election, such as immigration, security and the economy.
#Trump #holds #outdoor #rally #attack #shielded #bulletproof #panel