Trump leaves bulletproof glass to check on, hug supporter who fainted at first outdoor rally since assassination attempt

Former President Donald Trump held a campaign rally in North Carolina on Wednesday, marking his first outdoor event since last month's assassination attempt in Butler, Pennsylvania.

During the rally, Trump spoke at the podium from behind bulletproof glass panels, part of a heightened security measure in the wake of the shooting on July 13. Additionally, storage containers were stacked along the event's perimeter to provide further protection, and snipers were stationed on the venue's rooftops.

'A doctor, please.'

Trump began his speech by addressing a recent preliminary annual benchmark report from the Department of Labor's Bureau of Labor Statistics, which significantly revised down the Biden-Harris administration's overstated job growth projections by -30%. The former president called it a "massive scandal."

"It really isn't a revision. It's a total lie," Trump stated. "The Harris-Biden administration has been caught fraudulently manipulating job statistics to hide the true extent of the economic ruin that they've inflicted on America."

In the middle of Trump's speech, which addressed national security, he abruptly paused and turned his attention to commotion in the crowd.

"What's wrong?" Trump asked attendees.

"Medic!" several people in the crowd shouted back at him.

"Oh, a doctor, please," Trump requested. "It is very hot here, I noticed. It's very hot. And a lot of the people waited for days to get here. So I understand it."

As the medical team responded to a woman who had briefly passed out in the crowd, Trump left the podium, stepping out from behind the protective glass. He approached the crowd to check on the woman, who had since come to, and hugged her before returning to the stage.

His supporters responded by chanting, "We love Trump."

Trump thanked his supporters once he reached the podium, stating, "They come two days, three days early, and it's a lot of stress."

He quickly returned to his speech on national security, during which he torched the current administration for its deadly Afghanistan withdrawal and the conflict in the Middle East.

"Everywhere I go, soldiers and veterans tell me how angry they are that not one person has been held accountable for the Afghanistan catastrophe. He never fired anybody," Trump said.

Trump noted that when he is elected president, he will immediately request the resignations of "every single senior military official" involved in the botched withdrawal. Trump also declared that the 8,000 service members who were removed from the military for refusing the COVID-19 vaccine mandate would be rehired with backpay under his administration.

"Starting the moment I lift my hand from the Bible after taking the oath of office, I will move to restore America to maximum strength and return the world to peace," Trump declared. "Comrade Harris, you're fired."

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