#BREAKING A man at Donald Trump’s rally in Johnstown, Pennsylvania, stormed into the press area as the former president spoke Friday but was surrounded by police and sheriff’s deputies and was eventually subdued with a Taser.
— NewsPoint (@HaberNoktam) August 31, 2024
He screamed “ say her name correctly" pic.twitter.com/kWQk5HNTLE
UPDATE: 8/31/24 8:20 a.m.
Police used a taser to subdue a man after he rushed a barricade around the media area during former President Trump’s rally in Johnston.
According to Politico, Trump had just made disparaging remarks about media coverage about his opponent, Vice President Kamala Harris, versus himself.
The man jumped over a metal barrier and began climbing toward a CBS reporter when a group of police dragged him down and tased him to subdue him.
Original:
Hallie Lauer
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Sticking with his talking points from other recent rallies, former President Donald Trump psyched up his supporters at a rally in Johnstown Friday with comments about illegal immigration, fracking and criticism of Vice President Kamala Harris.
It was the Republican presidential candidate’s third trip to the state — and the first in Western Pennsylvania — since he was grazed by a bullet July 13 during an outdoor rally in Butler County. He visited Harrisburg at the end of July and was in Wilkes-Barre in mid-August.
At the July 13 rally, two other men also were wounded and a third, firefighter Corey Comperatore, was killed.
Trump did not refer to Mr. Comperatore in his speech Friday, something he had done in the other two appearances in Pennsylvania. Other than mentioning that some of the people in the front row at Friday’s rally also were present at the Butler event, and saying it was a “horrible thing,” Trump did not speak about the shooting.
Speaking for more than 90 minutes, Trump spent much of the rally criticizing Ms. Harris, his Democratic opponent in the upcoming presidential election, and President Joe Biden. Only occasionally did he touch on his own policy points, and it wasn’t until near the end of his speech that he began listing campaign promises.
“We will defeat inflation very quickly and we will make America affordable again,” he said. “We will no longer allow foreign countries to take our jobs.”
In an interview with NBC News on Thursday, Trump guaranteed that if he wins in November, he will make sure that in vitro fertilization treatments are covered by insurance or paid for by the government. He reaffirmed that promise Friday.
He also addressed his recent visit to Arlington Cemetery, where he was joined by his campaign staff including a photographer and videographer. Federal law prohibits campaign or election activities at military ceremonies; NPR reported that a cemetery staffer was pushed aside by members of Trump’s entourage after she tried to stop a photo-taking session with military families.
Trump on Friday denied that the campaign was using the cemetery visit as a political activity and said the families of the fallen soldiers had asked him to be there.
He said the families asked him for a photo at the gravesites.
“I love those people,” he said. “I’m happy they took pictures of me and them.”
He also took time during his speech to play a campaign ad that calls Ms. Harris “dangerously radical” and features clips from her unsuccessful 2020 presidential campaign that show her saying she supported a ban on fracking.
Trump made it clear that should he be elected, he would encourage drilling for natural gas in Pennsylvania.
“When we win, on day one I will tell Pennsylvania to drill, baby, drill,” he said.
Many of Trump’s criticisms of Ms. Harris were aimed at her stances on fracking and energy.
In her primary campaign for president in 2019, Ms. Harris said she was supportive of passing the Green New Deal and banning fracking. But in late July and again on Thursday in an interview with CNN, Ms. Harris said she would not seek to ban fracking should she win the election.
Seats at Johnstown’s 1st Summit Arena at the Cambria County War Memorial quickly filled to its capacity of about 4,000. About an hour before Trump was scheduled to speak, campaign staffers began setting up folding chairs on the main level of the arena.
Trump noted the importance of Pennsylvania, a critical swing state, in the upcoming election.
“We win this state, we win the whole thing,” he said.
Shortly after Trump began speaking, a scuffle broke out near the press area of the arena.
A video taken by a spectator shows a man attempting to climb the press riser. Trump paused his speech and said, “He’s all right, he’s on our side.”
Outside the arena, several people were seen being detained by police officers, though it was not immediately clear why or whether it was related to the incident inside.
As Trump neared the 90-minute mark of his speech, the former president ran down a list of his plans should he be elected again as audience members began trickling toward the exits. Many of them, clutching or wearing Trump merchandise, had been waiting since 1:30 p.m. or earlier. Outside, spectators could get their pictures taken with a cardboard cutout of Trump or buy campaign clothing or other merchandise featuring his face or containing his newest slogan, “Fight Fight Fight.”
Many of them voiced their concerns with illegal immigration and border security.
“I don’t mind them coming in, but come in the right way,” said Bob Beitzel, 78, who, along with his brothers and a cousin, had driven to Johnstown from Oakland, Md.
In what appeared to be a move away from his prepared remarks, Trump said undocumented immigrants who enter the country are all criminals.
“These stupid people that we have leading this country are allowing these people, these criminals, to come into our country, and we’re going to get them the hell out of here,” he said.
He devoted much of his early remarks to the issue of illegal drugs. He claimed each drug dealer could “kill 500 people” and called for the death penalty for those who are convicted.
“If you had the death penalty for drug dealers, you wouldn’t have any more drugs,” he said.
In the way Democrats have latched onto the term “weird” to describe Trump and his running mate, Ohio Sen. JD Vance, Trump has started calling Mr. Biden and Ms. Harris “stupid.” Multiple times throughout the evening he referred to “Comrade Kamala” and “Crooked Joe” as being stupid.
His deviations from the prepared speech seemed to be the most engaging parts of the rally for the crowd, which cheered and jeered and called out to the former president.
Some of the largest cheers of the night came when Trump — as he’s been doing at recent rallies — reprised his role from the reality television show “The Apprentice.”
“Kamala, you’re fired,” Trump said.
Many of the speakers who preceded Trump to the podium encouraged Republicans to utilize all methods of voting. They included Sean Parnell, who briefly ran for a Pennsylvania U.S. Senate seat in 2021 before withdrawing after a court battle with his estranged wife, and Carla Sands, the ambassador to Denmark under Trump.
Republicans, many of who were critical of mail ballots in 2020, have now been attempting to sway GOP voters to utilize these methods in an attempt to make the election, as Trump says, “too big to rig.”
“No one knows what the hell we’re doing,” Trump said. “Our elections are all screwed up. We want to return to paper ballots and same-day voting.”
But for this election, he encouraged everyone to “get the hell out and vote.” Trump also recently launched a new website where voters can register and let the campaign know how they intend to vote.
“When we take back the White House … every family will thrive and every day will be filled with joy and hope,” Trump said. “But to make that happen, we must defeat Kamala Harris.”
Staff writer Adam Babetski contributed to this report.
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