CANONSBURG, Pa. – A Pittsburgh man who witnessed the assassination attempt on former President Trump in Butler, Pa., last weekend recounted his amazement to Fox News Digital in watching the crowd erupt in cheers after the GOP nominee mouthed “Fight!” and fist-pumped moments after being shot.
Bob Crankovic said he was sitting behind Trump just off his right shoulder when the rally began.
Several minutes into the rally, Thomas Crooks, 20, of Bethel Park, Pa., attempted to kill Trump, but shot him in the ear after the former president turned at the last moment to explain a border policy graphic.
Crankovic, who has been active in local Republican circles since 2016, said it was approximately his fourth Trump rally, and that Saturday’s started just as the others had – with rallygoers bedecked in red hats and American flag-themed regalia.
TRUMP RALLY SPEAKER WHO TENDED TO MURDERED ATTENDEE HOPES HORRIFIC EVENT WILL UNITE NATION
Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump is rushed offstage after a shooting during a rally on July 13, 2024, in Butler, Pennsylvania. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)
Trump supporters await the former president in Butler, Pa. (Robert Crankovic II)
However, after shots rang out, Crankovic saw Trump dropping and being smothered by Secret Service agents. What happened next was similarly shocking, he said.
“As soon as unfortunately the shots went out what happened was that I immediately ducked for cover,” he said. “By the time I happened to look up at the president, roughly around the second or third shot, he was already covered up,” he said.
“So it was tough to watch. But, I mean, as soon as the president got up, everybody was absolutely screaming their head off for the president in support.”
Trump supporters await the former president in Butler, Pa. (Robert Crankovic II)
That response, he said, as well as the fact Trump went ahead with plans to address the Republican National Convention despite the near-death incident and injury, is why he believes the GOP nominee is the right man at the right time for America.
“President Trump’s reaction is exactly how I think the country’s feeling. We want a comeback,” he said.
“We want a strong leader who knows exactly the moment and knows how to step up to the moment and be in the moment, all at the exact same time.”
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Senator J.D. Vance, a Republican from Ohio, from left, former US President Donald Trump, and Lara Trump, co-chair of the Republican National Committee, during the Republican National Convention (RNC) at Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee. (Victor J. Blue/Bloomberg via Getty)
In a recent interview with Fox News Digital, Beaver County Republican Party vice chairman Rico Elmore echoed some of Crankovic’s sentiments, suggesting the tragic event will lead to more national unity at a trying time:
“I believe that it’s going to bring a sense of togetherness across all lines, Democrat, Republican and any other political party affiliation, because now it’s to the realization that this can happen. It can happen anywhere,” he said Monday.
“You can go outside and someone can do this. You can be at a rally, and someone can do this all based on a political viewpoint or an opinion.”