Renee White said she heard shots flying past her head in Butler last month.
White didn’t immediately know what had happened, but she wasn’t scared when gunfire erupted at a campaign rally for former President Donald Trump as he seeks to regain the White House.
She was focused on the man she believes will "save" America: Trump.
“I never sat down. I wanted to make sure he was OK," the North Carolina resident said. "It wasn’t until I heard Secret Service talking that I knew it was real, that something went down."
White now follows Trump to every rally she can, even if that means traveling 14 hours from her home in Newland, North Carolina to Wilkes-Barre Township, where Trump was slated to speak later Saturday.
“We’re fighting for our country, yeah. It means a lot to me. I need this for my kids and my grandkids,” said White, who got in line outside Mohegan Arena at 5:30 a.m. for the event, where Trump wasn't scheduled to speak until late afternoon.
White, who said she is scheduled to meet Trump at the rally, was surrounded by throngs of fellow supporters, many of whom also traveled great distances to hear him speak.
Fears of communism and socialism
Karen Drums, from Bucks County, is grateful to see Trump back in Pennsylvania after the assassination attempt back in July.
“God saved his life, and he's got a lot of faith that he's safe here, and we really appreciate that tenacity and that courage,” Drums said.
Drums and her husband, Donald Thomas, a truck mechanic, have been attending Trump rallies since 2016. They attended Saturday's event with their church’s pastor.
They’re both dissatisfied with President Joe Biden's administration and urged other voters to reflect on the state of the nation when making their choices at the ballot box.
“Are you happy with the way our country is going now?” Drums asked. “Are you happy with the cost of groceries, your electric bill, the Fentanyl crisis, what your children are being taught in school? Are you happy? Tell me one thing you're happy with right now.”
Drums had this message for undecided voters: “If you don't vote for Trump, then we're going to be living in a communist country, and you're not gonna like that.”
Trump attacked Kamala Harris' stance on immigration and her economic policies during his speech. He argued she started to turn America into a socialist country and brought Venezuelan immigrant, Daniel Campo, to speak.
Campo left Venezuela under his father's advice. The elder Campo witnessed socialism take over the country, Daniel Campo said in English and Spanish to Saturday's crowd.
Jason Williams, an automotive parts salesman from the Wilkes-Barre area, wants Trump to close the borders he said the Biden-Harris administration left wide open for illegal migrants. He wants Trump to pull the country out of unnecessary foreign affairs.
"Until we find a solution to fix the homeless and children who are homeless, we should not give a dime to any other country or illegals," said Williams. "Hey, you want to come to this country? Come through the door. Don't come ... over the wall."
He specified that he doesn't mind legal immigration. The problem with America today, he stated, is illegal migrants get support that could've gone to Americans in need.
Williams also questioned Harris's popularity since she announced her run for president. Most Democrats he knows won’t vote for her, he said.
“So, you tell me, where is she getting the support from? Y’know, the money that basically she raised, it’s physically impossible to raise that kind of money,” said Williams.
Harris has broken several fundraising milestones for the Democrats. She raised $36 million in 24 hours after naming Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz as her running mate.
Williams emphasized that Harris wasn't elected. She was selected.
"She's the democratic chosen one all of a sudden," said Williams. "Y'know, she wasn't elected, there was no delegate."
Trump attacked Harris for entering the race a few months before the election and for displacing Americans' who voted for Biden in the Primary Election.
"[Harris] stole the presidency of the United States," said Trump.
Comparing crowd sizes
Josh Visga is originally from Michigan, but he follows the Trump campaign around the country in a decked out, Trump- themed RV. While on the road, he works to promote ballot initiatives in favor of Trump and the Republican Party.
Visga said he admires Trump’s tenacity.
“He's got the weight of the world on him, because he understands what's at stake here, and everybody that's come out to try to crush him,” said Visga, praising the energy among supporters at Trump's rallies.
That energy brought supporters from not only across the country, but from around the world.
Kevin Jang traveled from South Korea to see Trump in Pennsylvania. Jang said he has followed Trump through Georgia and Montana, and he doesn’t see himself stopping anytime soon. He identified himself as part of the National Movement for the Strengthening of the Alliance between the Republic of Korea and the United States of America (ROK-US Alliance).
While Jang can’t vote in the U.S., he’s driven by political and historical reasons to follow Trump.
“Politically, we know that under Biden’s presidency there are two wars that started, one in Russia and one in the Middle East. And we worry that if this keep on going on, if Kamala [Harris] gets into office, there will be another world war,” said Jang. “And historically, 70 years ago there was the Korean War … and hundreds of thousands of Americans came ... to fight for South Korea.”
By being in Wilkes-Barre Township on Saturday to hear Trump speak, Jang said he feels he’s repaying his debt to America.
Trump touted his political power to Saturday's crowd. He said he could "stop the war with a telephone. I could stop the war in the Middle East with a few phone calls."
