MAGAReport 10/7/2024 - Pilgrimage to Butler
The MAGA faithful search for meaning in Trump's return to the site of his assassination attempt
On Sunday, Trump returned to Butler, PA, site of the July assassination attempt, to hold a rally. All Trump rallies have a pilgrimage feel to them, but this one moreso. It was marketed as a triumphant, defiant “Return to Butler”. It was palpable how much the attendees wanted this to be a profound, meaningful, transcendent experience. People began lining up at 7am for a program that started at 2, with Trump scheduled to speak at 5pm. T-shirts reading “Celebrating Trump’s Fearless Return” sold well in the line.
Security was tight and visible. The spot where the shooter set up in July was blocked off, though I got a look at it the night before and it was startlingly close to the stage - so much more than it looks in the footage we all have seen.
The campaign tried to deliver the experience people came for. Throughout the day, there were memorials to Corey Comperatore, the retired firefighter killed in the July shooting. His turnout gear was on display in the stands behind the speakers, and his family members attended.
The speaker list was also higher profile than usual, with JD Vance, Eric and Lara Trump, and Elon Musk all making appearances. I have spent so much time listening to Trump speak this summer, that it’s startling to hear Vance who is a much more effective orator, despite the misinformation spread throughout his speech.
There was also more fanfare than usual. A skydiving team with a big American flag dropped in and Trump’s plane did a flyover while the theme from Top Gun played for the crowd.
When Trump took the stage, he delivered one great line, beginning his speech by showing the immigration chart that was on screen when he was shot at in July and delivering the line “As I was saying…”. It was funny in a way he usually is not. The rest of his speech was the same monotone reading and rambling that we’re used to.
Elon was introduced in the middle of Trump’s speech and the crowd loved it. His few minutes on stage were rambling and poorly organized, but it did not diminish his star power.
In the end, though, it didn’t feel like the rally lived up to the crowd’s very high expectations (though I expect none of them would admit that if asked). I walked away feeling like everyone performed having a profound experience without having one. It was like if your family has a big fight on Christmas morning and then has to go through the rest of the day pretending to be happy because that’s what’s expected.
The memorials felt like they were there in service of the “Trump is so tough that he took a bullet for us” narrative, not because they were doing a lot of mourning. All the speakers ahead of Trump tried to give rousing speeches, raising their voices, extolling how important the next election was, and ending with either “…God Bless the United States of America!” or “…God Bless Donald J. Trump!” The crowd dutifully cheered, but to me, it seemed more done than felt.
The day was, as usual, filled with conspiracy theories and lies - about the federal response to Hurricane Helene, about the status of the economy, about the 2020 election, and about immigrants. There was ominous talk about what will happen if Trump loses in November, including predictions that “there will be no more elections”.
I’m starting to think about how much the election is going to shift things, regardless of who wins. If Trump loses, it will be the end of MAGA. Like QAnon in 2020, there will be hangers on, but essentially, a powerful political presence that has shaped the last decade will mostly disappear, literally overnight. If Trump wins, there will be such a profound shift of power into the movement, and I suspect his followers will be (at least temporarily) drunk with it.
There are still no plans for the time of the election, though I’m watching closely for them. In the meantime, keep an eye out for a new piece by me in HuffPost tomorrow (Oct 8) and I’ll keep you apprised of anything new in MAGAland.
