(Grand Rapids) Buoyed by his triumph at the Republican convention and the crisis shaking Joe Biden’s candidacy, Donald Trump promised Saturday a Republican “tidal wave” at his first campaign rally since he was the victim of an assassination attempt, assuring that he had “taken a bullet for democracy.”
Appearing without the white bandage that covered his entire ear in the last days, but with a more discreet dressing, the Republican candidate was cheered in a packed sports hall of 12,000 spectators in Grand Rapids, Michigan, a key state that he won in 2016 but that Joe Biden took from him in 2020.
“I took a bullet last week for democracy,” Donald Trump said at the start of his speech, defending himself against repeated accusations of extremism in his rhetoric and political project, while reaffirming without proof that the 2020 election had been rigged.
PHOTO TOM BRENNER, REUTERS
Donald Trump’s Running Mate JD Vance
He promised “a monumental landslide” for Republicans in the upcoming November elections and mocked Democrats “who don’t know who their candidate is,” saying Biden would have an IQ of “50,” “60,” or “70.”
Supported by his running mate JD Vance, originally from the neighboring state of Ohio, and who presents himself as a spokesperson for a downgraded America, Donald Trump seeks to cement his base in this northern region that has suffered from deindustrialization, like the city of Detroit.
PHOTO EVAN VUCCI, ASSOCIATED PRESS
Several people attended the rally Saturday in Grand Rapids, Michigan.
He has made repeated promises of tax cuts, anti-inflation measures and import duties to protect the “made in America” label.
In the middle of a speech of almost two hours, peppered as usual with anecdotes about his relations with heads of state, such as the “brilliant” Chinese Xi Jinping who “controls 1.4 billion people with an iron fist”, he also renewed his diatribe against migrants whom he accuses of the worst crimes, promising the “largest expulsion operation” in the history of our country.
Security device
PHOTO JEFF KOWALSKY, AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
Police officers watch over the crowd from the top of a building on Saturday, who have come to take part in the partisan rally.
While many questions remain about the failings at the rally where Donald Trump was shot, Saturday’s rally was held in an enclosed space, an environment that is easier to secure than an open space.
The crowd waited for their champion, some wearing T-shirts with the image of the billionaire, bloodied ear and raised fist, immortalized by photographers a week earlier.
“What we witnessed last Saturday was a miracle,” Edward Young, 64, who has attended 81 Donald Trump rallies, told AFP.
“They turned him into a martyr and left him alive. Now he is more powerful than ever,” he adds.
Bolstered by this image of a miracle worker, the tempestuous septuagenarian also emerged strengthened from a nomination convention which saw him this week obtain the support of the entire Republican Party.
PHOTO EVAN VUCCI, ASSOCIATED PRESS
Donald Trump on July 13 after the assassination attempt.
“Important decision”
A striking contrast to his Democratic rival, outgoing President Joe Biden, who is currently playing for his political survival.
Confined to his private Delaware residence after contracting COVID-19, the 81-year-old Democrat has been unable to silence calls for him to pass the torch, amid lingering questions about his mental acuity and physical fitness.
Joe Biden assured Friday that he would resume his campaign next week, but his combative tone failed to hide the growing revolt among Democratic leaders.
More than thirty elected officials have publicly called on him to give way to a younger candidate. And one of his main donors, businessman Michael Moritz, has called on him to step down and announced that he is suspending his donations to the party.
PHOTO SUSAN WALSH, ASSOCIATED PRESS ARCHIVES
United States President Joe Biden
Joe Biden “has a very important decision to make,” Sen. Elizabeth Warren said on MSNBC Saturday, raising the possibility of his replacement by his vice president, Kamala Harris, 59, a former California attorney general.
“What gives me a lot of hope right now is that if President Biden decides to step down, we have Vice President Kamala Harris, who is ready to step up, unite the party, take on Donald Trump and win in November,” she said.
“If you’re running against a repeat offender, a prosecutor like Kamala is a really good person to represent your case,” she added, referring to Donald Trump’s criminal conviction, a first for a former U.S. president.
Shots targeting Trump caused 2cm wound that is healing
The gunshot wound to Donald Trump’s ear during a campaign rally a week ago left a two-centimeter-deep wound that is healing, his former White House physician, Ronny Jackson, said in a rare health update since the event.
“The bullet passed within an inch of the head and hit the top of the right ear,” Ronny Jackson wrote in a one-page note posted on his official X account.
The bullet’s passage “produced a 2 cm wide wound that extended to the cartilaginous surface of the ear. There was initially significant bleeding, followed by marked swelling of the entire upper part of the ear,” adds the former doctor, who became a hard-right elected representative in the House of Representatives.
He said the swelling has since gone down and the wound is beginning to “heal properly,” he wrote.