“It’s only a matter of time before someone tries to kill him.”

Republican vice presidential candidate JD Vance stood on the very stage where his running mate narrowly escaped death and admonished former President Donald Trump's critics for stoking animosity against him.

Vance, 40, singled out Vice President Kamala Harris and the media for trafficking in “inflammatory rhetoric” against Trump that he said culminated in political violence.

“With all the hate they spewed against President Trump, it was only a matter of time before someone tried to kill him,” Vance roared to a packed venue on the grounds of the Butler Farm Show on Saturday.

With bulletproof glass as protection, Vance lamented how the attack on the 78-year-old Trump continued to rage – even after two high-profile assassination attempts on the former president.

“Even after this horrific assassination attempt that took the life of one man and nearly took the lives of many others, they continue to use dangerous, inflammatory rhetoric. “The media continues to portray Donald Trump — the man who actually won his primary — as a threat to democracy,” Vance lamented.

The exact motives behind the July 13 Butler, Pennsylvania, shooter, Matthew Thomas Crooks, 20, are still somewhat unclear since he was killed by a Secret Service sniper.

However, authorities managed to arrest 58-year-old Ryan Wesley Routh, who attempted to carry out the second major assassination attempt against Trump on September 15. This gave them a clearer picture of his motives.

“Before the Florida shooter tried to kill Donald Trump, he actually wrote, 'Democracy is on the ballot,' the exact same words Kamala Harris wrote after accusing Trump of being a dictator just days before the first assassination attempt on him had,” Vance chided.

At the start of his speech, designed to warm up the crowd before Trump took the podium, Vance criticized Harris for that rhetoric.

“I think all of you will join me in saying to Kamala Harris: How dare you talk about threats to democracy? Donald Trump took a bullet for democracy. “What the hell did you do?” he said.

Vance also praised his vice president, noting that “Despite being shot here in Butler, President Trump immediately called for national unity.”

Trump had tailored his speech to the Republican National Convention to call for unity, but as the 2024 campaign season progressed, the two rival campaigns began throwing bitter broadsides at each other again.

“I really believe that what happened here in Butler is a metaphor for the United States of America. “In this country we may get knocked down, but we get right back up and keep fighting,” Vance said.

On July 13, Trump was hit by a bullet in the right ear and crouched down before Secret Service agents closed in on him to protect him.

After the shooting stopped, Trump emerged with a bloodied face, pumped his fist in the air and urged his supporters to “fight, fight, fight” before he was driven away.

Shortly thereafter, Trump made it clear that he intended to revisit the Butler Farm Show site and finish what he started.

“This is exactly where we thought almost three months ago that President Trump would lose his life. But God still has a plan for him, just like he still has a plan for the United States of America,” Vance later added.

On Saturday, exactly a month before Election Day, Trump will return to Butler, Pennsylvania, for the first time since the tragic shooting in July.

He's vowing to hit the campaign trail “almost every day” leading up to Nov. 5, The Post exclusively revealed Saturday.