Donald Trump falsely claimed his “rivals tried to kill” him as he returned for a campaign rally in Pennsylvania for the first time since an assassination attempt earlier this year.
Mr Trump, accompanied on stage by Tesla CEO Elon Musk, made his appearance in Butler for the first time since the July shooting incident.
Kicking off the rally with the words "As I was saying," a reference to the bullet that grazed his left ear at the previous event, Trump received cheers from his supporters.
He went on to deliver familiar talking points on immigration before accusing Democrats of attempting to "weaponise" the government through lawsuits to bring him down.
He then made unsubstantiated claims that Joe Biden’s government has paid for “sex change operations” for “illegal immigrants in holding bins”.
Mr Musk had previously been apolitical but has openly embraced Mr Trump this time around - and the 2016 president said the Twitter boss has “saved free speech” upon introduction.
Space X and Tesla chief Mr Musk then made some dubious claims of his own, saying “this will be the last election,” if the Democrats win.
Taking a page out of his mates script, Mr Musk then added that a Kamala Harris-run government would strip Americans of their right to bear arms, free speech and voting rights.
The Democrat party has not announced plans to take any such action and Ms Harris has denied all of the claims - having said repeatedly that nobody will have a gun taken away.
With 30 days until the election, both Mr Trump and Ms Harris are doubling down on their efforts to win Pennsylvania -considered something of a bellwether state.
Thomas Matthew Crooks, who took aim at Mr Trump in July, was quickly shot dead by security in the July incident.
A second potential assassination attempt was aimed at Mr Trump in September when a man entered a golf course where the Republican was set to play. Ryan Routh has been charged.
Ms Harris, meanwhile, visited North Carolina on Saturday in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene and paid tribute to the “heroes” who responded to the incident.
The vice president was in Charlotte one day after a visit to the state by Mr Trump, who was spreading false claims about the federal response to the disaster.
Ms Harris opened her visit by attending a briefing with state and local officials, where she thanked "those who are in the room and those who are out there right now working around the clock”.
She promised federal assistance would continue to flow and added praise for the "strangers who are helping each other out, giving people shelter and food and friendship and fellowship”.
