When Donald Trump took the stage for the second time this year at the Butler Farm Show grounds, more than 14 million people watched the rally live on X. Both Trump and Elon Musk appeared along with several other notable speakers in what may have been the most compelling Trump rally in 2024. It was moving, inspiring, and touching, with Trump delivering his patented fire-in-the-belly rally remarks that so many expect.

The Trump rally has become a staple in the last three presidential election cycles. Whether Trump wins or loses in November, this now trademark campaign event will likely take its place in history, associated with a pivotal time in the American story. If this wasn’t true before the July 13 assassination attempt, it is now.

A Trump rally is not just a campaign event. It’s not just a stump speech or a campaign stop. Except for the July 13 rally—which tragically was something far different—a typical Trump rally is something greater: it’s a revival.

Instead of centering on religious faith, a Trump rally focuses on faith in the American spirit. Unlike the Left, which has worked to supplant actual religion with a religious, if not cult-like worship, of the state, conservatives see the American spirit as central to their communities, states, and country. But it is not religion—and they know it. They already have a God and a faith, and they are extremely clear on the distinctions between government and religion.

Not unlike a traditional barnstorming Christian revival, upon leaving a Trump rally, attendees feel better about themselves, confident that they are not alone or even in the minority. They feel better about the future and are empowered to do something about that future.

To understand this, one must first understand something about actual religious revivals. A traveling preacher enters a town with the force of a freight train and brings the masses together to hear the Gospel. He works to touch the hearts and minds of the people, reinforcing the faith of the faithful and converting the skeptics. The preacher does this through his own words, verses from “the good book,” and testimony from some who travel with him or those in attendance, which he calls “witnesses.”

When someone attends a revival, he leaves energized and recommitted to his faith, values, and family. He wants to do something to make the world a better place.

In the case of a Trump revival, attendees leave energized and recommitted to their patriotism, their American values, their families, and their communities. They want to do something to Make America Great Again.

This is not Christian nationalism as the Left would have you believe. It’s the same American patriotism that rallied the country to defeat enemies around the world for almost 250 years, to overcome a Civil War, to survive a Great Depression, and to save humanity from tyrants.

In the most literal sense, the American spirit is rooted in basic freedoms as detailed in the U.S. Constitution. A Trump rally celebrates that spirit. When Trump says he wants to Make America Great Again, he’s inventing nothing new, nothing that’s not already there. He’s tapping into Americans’ innate desire to embrace something that has been in the country’s DNA for centuries, something generations have held sacred so that they could pass it on to future generations. Something that must be constantly renewed.

All those Trump rallies since 2016 have been a revival of a sort of pure American patriotism the country hasn’t seen since Ronald Reagan’s 1984 campaign, “It’s morning again in America.” That campaign was so wrapped up in the red, white, and blue that even the 1984 Summer Olympics held in Los Angeles felt like a Reagan campaign event.

While the optics may be different, the vibe 40 years later is the same. These Trump American revivals have showcased people from all walks and political persuasions, from Elon Musk and Tulsi Gabbard and Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to Sally Sheri, the paramedic who treated Trump’s wound after he was shot at the first Butler rally in July. All the speakers praised Trump, to be sure. But what they really celebrated were American values, American freedoms, and basic human rights—all things the Left wants to devalue and diminish.

That is why 14 million-plus watched that Butler Trump rally live on X, and even more watched on TV and on other platforms. That’s what they crave. Trump voters want a revival of the priceless things that only America has been able to provide at scale to the world: Freedom. Faith. Family. Community.

If the Trump rallies have accomplished one thing, they have served as a reminder that you are not alone, that the things you hold dear are still important to millions and millions of Americans. They are a reminder that it will take the determined energy and will of millions of Americans to guarantee that our way of life can be passed on to the next generation.