Leaked audio appears to reveal Donald Trump joking about Helen Comperatore, the widow of firefighter Corey Comperatore who was killed by the assassin who targeted Trump’s Pennsylvania rally.
The leak comes ahead of Trump’s return to the Butler, Pennsylvania location where an attempt on his life was made and Comperatore was murdered this coming weekend.
Speaking in Aspen, Colorado on August 10, Trump was talking about how he’d presented Helen Comperatore with $1 million and raised money for the family on Gofundme when he told a joke.
‘So they’re going to get millions of dollars but the woman, the wife, this beautiful woman, I handed her the cheque – we handed her the cheque – and she said, ‘This is so nice, and I appreciate it, but I’d much rather have my husband.’ Now, I know some of the women in this room wouldn’t say the same,’ he said to laughs.
Trump then called out some of the members of the club who might be a target of the joke but made a point to exclude Texas Governor Greg Abbott, who was in attendance.
Leaked audio appears to reveal Donald Trump joking about Helen Comperatore, the widow of firefighter Corey Comperatore who was killed by the assassin who targeted Trump’s Pennsylvania rally
The leak comes ahead of Trump’s return to the Butler, Pennsylvania location where an attempt on his life was made and Comperatore (pictured right with wife Helen) was murdered this coming weekend
‘I know at least four couples. There are four couples, Governor [Abbott], that I know and you’re not one of them. At least four couples here would have been thrilled, actually.’
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Trump says his return to Butler will be a celebration of the life of Corey Comperatore
Trump actually told the joke before at a rally in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania just weeks after the shooting.
The fundraiser is believed to have raised over $12 million for Trump’s re-election campaign, The Guardian reports.
Trump promised Tuesday to turn his return to the site of his attempted assassination into a celebration of the life of Comperatore.
He will appear before supporters in Butler, Pennsylvania on Saturday.
‘It’s going to be a really big event, and it’s going to be something,’ Trump told reporters in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. ‘We’ll celebrate the life of Corey.’
But he gave no indication he was nervous about returning to the spot where a bullet grazed his ear.
‘Butler has become quite a famous place,’ he said. It’s like a monument.
Former US President and 2024 Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump kisses a helmet and firefighter’s jacket that belonged to Corey Comperatore
‘Now people ride through the streets of Butler, looking at as though it were a monument.’
He said a GoFundMe appeal for Comperatore and other victims had raised $5million. Most had gone to his widow, but two other wounded supporters were also getting $1 million.
He said the event would be a chance to celebrate the emergency services, doctors and others who helped the wounded.
‘There are a lot of talented people in our country, so that’ll be exciting,’ he said.
‘And the question is, how am I going to start the speech?
‘And I think I am going to say: ‘As I was saying,’ because that’s about where I was. I was very early.’
Trump has switched up his campaign schedule since he was wounded on July 13.
Most of his rallies have been held indoors since. Outdoors, he now appears behind a thick bulletproof screen.
Trump said a GoFundMe appeal for Comperatore and other victims had raised $5million. Most had gone to his widow, but two other wounded supporters were also getting $1 million
Elon Musk will join Trump at his rally Saturday.
‘I will be there to support!’ Musk wrote on his social platform X on Thursday in a retweet of Trump´s own promotion of the rally. The SpaceX and Tesla CEO will be among special guests in attendance, Trump’s campaign confirmed Friday.
The event will mark the first time that the billionaire businessman appears publicly at a campaign event for the former president since endorsing him.
The July endorsement came directly after the attempted assassination, with Musk writing on X, ‘I fully endorse President Trump and hope for his rapid recovery.’
Musk has supercharged his support for Trump in recent months and has become personally more invested in politics – even agreeing to lead a government efficiency commission if Trump wins reelection.
He also created a super PAC supporting the Republican nominee that has been spending heavily on get-out-the-vote efforts in the final months of the campaign.
Saturday’s rally will take place at the same property where a gunman’s bullets grazed Trump’s right ear and killed his supporter, Comperatore. The shooting left multiple others injured.
Several members of Comperatore’s family, as well as other attendees and first responders from the July rally, will join Trump on Saturday at the farm show property, according to the campaign.
Also appearing with the former president will be his running mate Republican Ohio Sen. JD Vance , his son Eric Trump , his daughter-in-law and RNC co-chair Lara Trump , and several Pennsylvania lawmakers and sheriffs, the campaign said.