On a sweltering weekend evening, beneath a clear blue sky, Donald Trump supporters in red “Make America Great Again” hats packed the fairgrounds in Butler, Pennsylvania.
It was a friendly and festive venue for the once and maybe future president’s final rally before the Republican National Convention the following week. He won Butler County, just north of Pittsburgh in the crucial swing state, by roughly 2 to 1 in both 2016 and 2020.
“God Bless the U.S.A.” boomed over a speaker — “I’m proud to be an American, where at least I know I’m free” — as Trump arrived wearing his own red MAGA hat. He stood before a row of gold-trimmed American flags. He waved, clapped and pointed to his fans, their cell phones held aloft to record him. The peaks of white tents rose near the red, white and blue-striped grandstands. A green farm combine sat to one side of the rally.
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