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Former President Donald Trump claims that he's changed his upcoming Republican National Convention speech to focus on unity after surviving an assassination attempt over the weekend.
Trump, 78, told the New York Post that he "threw away" an "extremely tough speech" during an interview on Sunday (July 14), hours after his ear was grazed during a shooting at his Butler, Pennsylvania, rally on Saturday (July 13). The former president is scheduled to deliver a speech while formally accepting the Republican party's presidential nomination in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, on Thursday (July 18).
“I want to try to unite our country, but I don’t know if that’s possible. People are very divided," Trump told the New York Post.
“I had all prepared an extremely tough speech, really good, all about the corrupt, horrible administration,” he added, referring to President Joe Biden and his cabinet. “But I threw it away.”
One spectator, identified as Corey Comperatore, 50, was killed during the incident while two others, David Dutch, 57, of New Kensington, and James Copenhaver, 74, were initially critically wounded but have since been upgraded to stable condition. Police identified the shooter as Thomas Matthew Crooks late Saturday night. Crooks, 20, was reportedly on the roof of a manufacturing plant more than 130 yards away from the stage where Trump addressed his supporters in Butler, Pennsylvania, when he took fire at the former president.
Secret Service snipers immediately took out Crooks, who was found with an AR-style semi-automatic assault rifle and wearing a shirt for the popular gun YouTube channel Demolition Ranch, after he opened fire. Crooks is reported to have donated $15 to the liberal ActBlue political action committee on the day of President Joe Biden's inauguration in January 2021, but later registered to vote as a Republican upon turning 18 in September 2021, according to records obtained and shared by the Intercept.
A motive for the shooting was not determined when FBI officials identified the 20-year-old during an update late Saturday night. The shooter's father, Matthew Crooks, told CNN that he was trying to figure out "what the hell is going on" after his son was identified by authorities.
The elder Crooks said he wouldn't provide details about his son and wanted to "wait until I talk to law enforcement" before speaking out on the shooting incident. Trump is scheduled to accept the Republican presidential nomination during the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, this week.