President Donald Trump laughed off loud pops that surprised his rally in Iowa on Thursday evening, telling the crowd that the noise was only from “fireworks – I hope.”
The pops interrupted the president as he was discussing the damage the unprecedented wave of illegal immigration under the Biden administration had done to the United States, and the Trump administration’s crackdown on the border that has led to historically low levels of illegal immigration.
“Don’t worry, it’s only fireworks – I hope,” the president joked.
“Famous last words. My famous last words: Trump said, ‘Don’t worry it’s only fireworks.’ You always have to think positive. I didn’t like that sound either,” Trump remarked as members of the audience chuckled.
Trump survived an attempted assassin’s bullet nearly a year ago at a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania. One man in the Iowa audience apparently recalled the event, yelling during the president’s riff on the pops, “Fight, fight, fight,” a reference to how Trump reacted to assassination attempt in Butler.
On July 13 of last year, Thomas Crooks was able to set up a sniper’s nest on a nearby building overlooking Trump’s rally stage. Crooks fired eight shots toward Trump, who was then a candidate for president. One shot grazed Trump’s ear. One audience member, 50-year-old volunteer fire chief Corey Comperatore, was killed.
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The assassination attempt ignited a firestorm of criticism around the Secret Service that failed to secure the perimeter of Trump’s Butler rally and allowed Crooks to obtain an unobstructed view of the president’s platform.
Trump recounted the attempt on his life during a speech about a month later at the Republican National Convention.
“I wanted to do something to let them know I was okay,” Trump said, referring to the crowd in Butler that witnessed the attempt and Trump buried under a pile of Secret Service agents. “I raised my right arm, looked at the thousands and thousands of people that were breathlessly waiting, and started shouting, ‘Fight, fight, fight.’”
“Once my clenched fist went up, and it was high into the air – you’ve all seen that – the crowd realized I was okay and roared with pride for our country like no crowd I have ever heard before. Never heard anything like it,” Trump said. “For the rest of my life, I will be grateful for the love shown by that giant audience of patriots that stood bravely on that fateful evening in Pennsylvania.”
