Donald Trump defiantly returned Saturday, October 5, to the site of a campaign rally where an assassin's bullet almost killed him in July, questioning whether his opponents were responsible and declaring he would "never quit."
"Exactly 12 weeks ago this evening, on this very ground, a cold-blooded assassin aimed to silence me," the Republican candidate told tens of thousands of supporters after taking the stage behind bulletproof glass.
Calling the gunman a "vicious monster," Trump vowed he would "never quit... never bend... never break" to cheers of "fight, fight, fight" from the crowd.
Trump's much-hyped return to Butler, Pennsylvania, came exactly one month before the November 5 presidential election, the outcome of which President Joe Biden suggested on Friday might not be peaceful.
Trump lashed out at his political opponents, calling them the "enemy within" who had pushed to indict him and "who knows, maybe even tried to kill me." "I wasn't supposed to make it," he said ominously.
Security was noticeably tighter than Trump's July rally, with sniper squads atop surrounding buildings, and a surveillance drone deployed overhead.
After the assassination attempt, pictures of Trump - with a blood-streaked face, pumping his fist and shouting "fight, fight, fight" - became defining images of the campaign.
On Saturday, many Trump supporters wore shirts emblazoned with the iconography, and some sported ear coverings recalling the bandage the former president wore after the shooting.
Billionaire Elon Musk joined Trump on stage, stressing the tight margins that will likely decide the election in battleground states like Pennsylvania and encouraging voter registration.
Trump "must win to preserve democracy in America," said Musk, echoing the alarmist messaging he frequently pushes to his 200 million followers on his X platform.
The heavy security presence on Saturday highlighted persistent security fears, underscored when another attempt on Trump's life was foiled last month.
The Secret Service has been pilloried for failing to secure the building where the Butler shooter managed to fire at Trump eight times before being shot dead.
Along with Trump, two supporters were wounded and one - firefighter Corey Comperatore -- was killed.
Trump and his campaign have sought to challenge Democrats' warnings about the former president representing a threat to democracy.
In the immediate aftermath of the Butler incident, all sides urged a lowering of the political temperature.
But Trump quickly reverted to his signature inflammatory rhetoric and has refused to commit to accepting the eventual result in November.
Asked about the possibility of further election-related violence, Biden said Friday he did not know if the vote would be peaceful.