Michael Rulli|Special to the Canton Repository
I think everyone can agree that we live in a very sensationalized time. Social media has amplified even the smallest events and trends into headline news. We’re constantly bombarded with stories heralding the end of the world, so it’s easy to look past the truly generational and transformative moments when they do happen.
One of those moments occurred July 13, 2024, when the world’s most polarizing figure showed his true colors, the rarest trait in modern life: courage.
Ohio’s 6th congressional district isn’t a traditionally Republican area. For decades before Donald Trump, it was a solidly union Democrat district occupied by blue-collar, working-class people with traditional family values and a deep distrust of big cities, big business and big government.
So, it came as a surprise to many when the catalyst for broad political realignment was a billionaire businessman from New York City. But beyond the tabloids, there was something unusually honest about Trump that resonated here. He spoke plainly and about issues they cared about. He was lighthearted, witty, relatable and not nearly as polished as the people who came before him.
From 2016 onward, his popularity only grew. As President Trump began to deliver results for our region, keeping the promises he made on the campaign trail, Ohio’s commitment to this generational leader never wavered. I can say confidently that if it weren’t for Donald Trump, I don’t think that I would be in office today.
The rally on July 13, 2024, in Butler, Pennsylvania, was only about an hour east of my home and bordered Ohio’s 6th congressional district. Constituents of mine, including a member of my staff, were in the crowd when the would-be assassin opened fire on President Trump.
It is hard to fathom how significant this event was: a former president campaigning to take back the presidency shot on live television. And as much as I respect his business career and the relentless spirit he’s shown while the entire system has persecuted him and his family, the most impressive single moment was on that day. The moment a man faced his death head-on.
We’ve all heard the trope of the cowardly, self-centered politician (and after a year in Washington, I can tell you it’s an understatement). But President Trump was SHOT, and the first thing on his mind wasn’t himself. It was his people. The people he loves. The people he’s risked it all for.
We’ve all seen the clip: him pushing through Secret Service, fist raised, mouthing, “Fight, fight, fight.” Most world leaders would’ve slithered off the stage.
That’s why, on the one-year anniversary of the assassination attempt, I introduced a resolution to designate July 13 as “Faith and Defiance Day.” As President Trump said in his follow-up rally in Butler on Oct. 4, 2024, “I will never quit, I will never bend, I will never break, I will never yield − not even in the face of death itself.”
That is the American spirit – faithful, defiant and unstoppable.
You can’t fake courage. To know a man’s character is to see how he acts in the face of death. A moment like July 13 hits you on a deeper, more spiritual level, and I think that’s what is worth remembering: The main character of our time, staring death in the face and standing tall.
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