Donald Trump dismissed concerns that he is a threat to democracy at his first campaign rally since surviving an assassination attempt on Saturday, telling a cheering crowd triumphantly, “Last week I took a bullet for democracy.”
“I’m not an extremist at all,” the Republican said at a rally in Michigan, dismissing his alleged ties to Project 2025, a shadow manifesto of those close to him that opponents have described as an authoritarian, right-wing wish list.
He mocked the rival Democratic Party, which is under unprecedented pressure from President Joe Biden to abandon his re-election bid amid concerns about his age and his eligibility to serve until 2029 if he is re-elected.
“They don’t even know who their candidate is … This guy goes and gets the votes, and now they want to take them away. That’s democracy,” Trump told a crowd of about 12,000 supporters.
In his fiery but typically vague speech, the Republican president reiterated his hardline views on immigration, as well as lies about migrant crime.
He also expressed admiration for foreign dictators, including China’s “genius” Xi Jinping, whom he praised for “tightly controlling 1.4 billion people.”
And he recalled the incident seconds after a gunman tried to assassinate him during a rally in Pennsylvania, when, covered in blood and surrounded by Secret Service agents, he raised his fist and shouted to his supporters to “Fight!”
The crowd in Grand Rapids repeated that phrase more than once Saturday, though some grew tired of the lengthy address after 90 minutes and began leaving the arena.
The rally was a notable moment by any measure, as Trump returned to the stage just a week after the assassination attempt.
He appeared wearing a new, smaller, flesh-coloured bandage on his right ear, which was injured in the attack by a 20-year-old gunman standing on a rooftop who also killed a passerby.
Amid questions about the Secret Service’s lapses at the Pennsylvania rally, security was reportedly tight at the Van Andel Arena in Grand Rapids, Michigan – though there were no obvious signs of a heightened law enforcement officer presence.
Biden’s ‘big decision’
Meanwhile, Biden loyalists have continued to defend the embattled president even as voices calling for him to abandon his campaign grow louder.
The 81-year-old leader and his team have publicly maintained that he will stay in the race, though some reports suggest discussions have begun among those close to him about how he might step away from the race.
There is speculation about who could replace him. As vice president, Harris is best placed to do so.
Senator Elizabeth Warren, a leading progressive who sought the party’s presidential nomination in 2020, promoted Harris on Saturday without turning her back on the president.
“Joe Biden is our candidate,” he 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 in, unify the party, take on Donald Trump and win in November.”
However, some Democrats fear a change so late could sow chaos, hurting the party in elections.
Team Trump, for its part, is buoyed after a string of extraordinary luck — from a failed assassination attempt to favorable court rulings and Biden’s disastrous debate performance last month.
On Saturday, Trump joined his campaign for the first time with his running mate JD Vance. Vance is a 39-year-old US senator from Ohio and can help secure victory in key states like Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.
Vance roused the crowd with a dig at Harris.
He said of the former U.S. senator and California attorney general, “I served in the United States Marine Corps and built a business. What have you done other than pick up a check?”
Trump supporters began lining up by the dozens in Grand Rapids on Friday, about a day before the rally was set to begin.
Edward Young, 64, who was attending his 81st Trump rally, wore a T-shirt bearing the iconic photo of Trump pumping his fist shortly after he was shot.
“They have made him a martyr and left him alive,” he said.
“Now he is more powerful than ever.”
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
