Sean Parnell, a combat veteran best-selling author, told Sirius XM’s Breitbart News Saturday that there will be “so many historic moments” at former President Donald Trump’s rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, where he was nearly assassinated in July.
Parnell, who is a Butler County native and was at July’s rally, joined the program hours before today’s event, where he is slated to speak ahead of Trump. When Breitbart News Washington Bureau Chief Matt Boyle asked about what to expect, Parnell said Trump’s resilience would be on display, as he not only wanted to come back “to finish the job” but insisted he speak from the exact location where he was shot in the ear.
“Well, first of all, what you said about President Trump saying, ‘We got to go back there, we got to finish the job,’ I have to tell you, like, that’s exactly how he feels,” Parnell said. “You are so spot on about that.”
“And I’ll tell you something else: I was onsite last night … because this is 20 minutes from my home. Butler County’s my home. Western Pennsylvania is my stomping ground and has been that way for generations in my family, so a very special connection. I love western Pennsylvania. And President Trump was insistent, Matt, insistent that the stage be in the exact same spot because he wanted to come back and he wanted to finish the job and he wanted to honor, you know, his commitment to the people of this area, but also send a message to would-be enemies across the world that he’s not afraid and that he’s indomitable and he’s unstoppable.”
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Parnell said Trump’s resilience is “inspiring.”
“It harkens back to something that I say, you know, often, and feel like I’ve been saying it more and more often recently, but in times of great crisis, the American people deserve leaders and not politicians,” he said. “And you see that play out before our eyes almost every day on the news with people suffering in the Southeast, the Middle East embroiled in war, China threatening to invade.”
“I mean … this country and this world needs Donald Trump in office, and the task, Matt, falls to us here in Pennsylvania. I mean, there are lots of swing states out there. You’ve got a national audience. They all know that. But if we win Pennsylvania, my friend, it’s over for Kamala. We win Pennsylvania, we save this country,” he added.
While viewers around the nation and the world can expect Trump to show a display of strength and perseverance, the rally will be about commemorating firefighter Corey Comperatore, a father and husband who was killed by Trump’s would-be assassin at July’s rally, and those who were wounded, according to Parnell. He emphasized that this event would be “very, very, very different from what people are used to seeing at Trump rallies.”
“And it’s going to be about the resilience of Pennsylvania in the Butler County community,” Parnell emphasized. “And listen, I’m just telling you, find a way to watch this rally because there’s going to be so many historic moments just unfolding before your eyes. This really, really, really promises to be a very special day.”
Parnell also recounted the scene at July’s rally, where he commended the people of Butler County and rallygoers who did not panic or stampede when a shooter opened fire on the then-presumptive Republican presidential nominee. Parnell will actually speak on this theme during his remarks at the rally.
“Donald Trump gave me the portion of the rally that is all about Butler County and the resilience and how they reacted that day, which, by the way, it’s a tremendous honor and an enormous responsibility to try to be a voice for those patriots in the crowd who conducted themselves with honor,” he said.
“There was no panic. People didn’t hurt one another. Nobody ran for their lives. They stood in solidarity with President Trump,” he added.
As Secret Service and law enforcement were dealing with the chaos in the aftermath of the shooting, Parnell and other veterans took up the task of leading an evacuation of rallygoers, he detailed.
“Everybody that we talked to was like, ‘Is President Trump Okay?’ That was on the forefront of their mind,” he recalled, noting folks were still unsure if there were multiple shooters at the time.
“Their first instinct in this area was not to care about their own safety and health and well-being. It was to worry about somebody else, and that just speaks volumes of the character of the people in this community, here in western Pennsylvania and across the Commonwealth of PA,” Parnell emphasized.
He also recounted the atmosphere of the crowd when Trump rose to defiantly pump his fist and shout, “Fight!”
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“The roar from that crowd was like nothing I’ve ever heard at any Trump rally, ever. I mean, you know, and I’ve spoke at many indoor Trump rallies where the roar from the crowd can be pretty loud, as you know, but it was absolutely unbelievable,” he said. “But what sticks out in my mind is that he didn’t want to leave the stage, Matt, and no one talks about this. He’s like, let me stand up; get off me. He wanted to keep going. The Secret Service didn’t let him.”
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Breitbart News Daily airs on SiriusXM Patriot 125 from 6:00 a.m. to 9:00 a.m. Eastern.