There was a look of confusion on supporters' faces as shots rang out at Donald Trump's rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, on July 13. Many dropped to the ground as reality set in. The former president was shot in the ear in an assassination attempt.
Boone, North Carolina, resident Renee White says she was directly behind Trump during the attack. "At his right-hand shoulder," White said, to be exact.
"It was very surreal. Very kind of crazy, like I said, kind of like an out-of-body experience," White said, describing the moments the would-be assassin fired his gun at the Pennsylvania rally.
"Everything was happening like so fast, and I didn't, a lot of people went down around me," White said, "and I kind of stayed up, was kind of watching everything, watching what was going on around me."
White was lined up early Wednesday morning outside the Bojangles Coliseum in Charlotte, where Trump is expected to speak at 6 p.m.
Known as the "Tiffany blue girl," White was donning the same blue "Make America Great Again" hat that she wore at the rally in Pennsylvania, and at some of the 33 other Trump rallies she attended before that.
White initially wasn't planning to go to the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, but changed her mind, saying she felt she needed to be there after her experience in Pennsylvania. She also attended the rally that followed in Grand Rapids, Michigan.
"A lot of people had asked if, you know, I would go back to a rally or not. Well, of course I will, of course I will. I love it. Something about it," she said.
The Charlotte rally comes less than a week after Trump accepted the presidential nomination at the RNC, and just days after President Joe Biden dropped out of the presidential race.
Biden officially dropped out of the race on Sunday. Vice President Kamala Harris, endorsed by Biden, is the front-runner to become the next Democratic nominee.
Harris visited North Carolina last week as Biden was home recovering from COVID-19.
Top Biden campaign officials have set their sights on North Carolina as a possible pickup opportunity after Trump won the state by around 1% in 2020.
Wednesday's campaign event is Trump's second rally since the assassination attempt against him and his first since Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle resigned.
Cheatle faced calls to resign as many questioned how a gunman was able to get so close to Trump at the outdoor event in Pennsylvania. Officials say a man armed with an AR-style rifle fired from a nearby rooftop.
Cheatle, who served as Secret Service director since August 2022, said she took "full responsibility for the security lapse,” the Associated Press reports.
A former fire chief attending the rally with family was killed, the Associated Press reports, as was the gunman. Two other people were critically hurt.
The Charlotte rally will be held at an indoor arena, and security is expected to be top of mind.
Claudia Puente contributed to this article.