Donald Trump held his first campaign rally on Saturday since surviving an assassination attempt, dismissing concerns about being a threat to democracy. He told a cheering crowd, “Last week I took a bullet for democracy.”
“I’m not an extremist at all,” he continued at the rally in Michigan, dismissing his reported links to Project 2025, a radical manifesto led by his close associates, described by opponents as an authoritarian, right-wing wish list.
Trump mocked the Democratic Party, which is under pressure for President Joe Biden to abandon the White House race due to concerns over his age and fitness to serve if reelected.
“They have no idea who their candidate is… This guy goes and he gets the votes, and now they want to take it away. That’s democracy,” Trump told the crowd of 12,000 supporters.
Despite his typical, rambling campaign speech, the rally was remarkable, occurring exactly one week after a gunman attempted to kill him. Trump appeared with a new, smaller, flesh-colored bandage over his right ear, injured in the attack by a 20-year-old gunman at a Pennsylvania rally that killed one bystander.
Security was reportedly tight inside the Van Andel Arena in Grand Rapids, Michigan, amid questions over Secret Service lapses at the Pennsylvania rally, though few visible signs of increased law enforcement presence were noted.
Biden loyalists continued to defend the president as calls for him to abandon his campaign grew louder. The 81-year-old and his team have publicly insisted he is staying in the race, though some reports suggest discussions about how he might step aside.
There has been massive speculation over who could replace him. As vice president, Harris appears best positioned to do so. Senator Elizabeth Warren, a leading progressive who sought the party’s presidential nod in 2020, supported Harris on Saturday without turning her back on Biden.
“Joe Biden is our nominee,” she said on MSNBC. “He has a really big decision to make. But what gives me a lot of hope right now is that if President Biden decides to step back, we have Vice President Kamala Harris, who is ready to step up, unite the party, take on Donald Trump, and win in November.”
Some Democrats fear that a late switch could trigger chaos, dooming the party at the polls.
Team Trump is buoyant after an exceptional streak of luck — from the failed assassination bid to favorable court rulings and Biden’s disastrous debate performance last month.
“I had God on my side,” Trump told the Republican National Convention on Thursday, where he demonstrated his control over the party and fired up supporters to a rare pitch.
Saturday was Trump’s debut campaign appearance with running mate J.D. Vance, a U.S. senator from Ohio who could help win critical swing states like Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin. Vance warmed up the crowd ahead of Trump’s speech, taking a swipe at Harris.
“I did serve in the United States Marine Corps and build a business. What the hell have you done, other than collect a check?” he said of the former U.S. senator and California attorney general.
Trump supporters began lining up in Grand Rapids on Friday, nearly a full day before the rally began. Edward Young, 64, attending his 81st Trump rally, wore a T-shirt showing the iconic photo of Trump pumping his fist immediately after being shot.
“They have turned him into a martyr and left him alive. Now he’s more powerful than ever,” he said.
