After his triumph at the Republican convention, Donald Trump is holding his first campaign rally on Saturday since he was the victim of an assassination attempt, at a time when his rival Joe Biden, forced into isolation due to COVID-19, is weakened by a growing rebellion.
Exactly one week after being targeted by semi-automatic rifle shots in Pennsylvania, the former president is traveling to Michigan, a “swing state” he won in 2016 but which Joe Biden took from him in 2020.
Accompanied by JD Vance, the senator he has chosen to support his campaign for the November presidential election, Donald Trump will hold a rally in the city of Grand Rapids at 5 p.m.
On the ground, the Republican will seek to cement his base in this northern region that has suffered from deindustrialization, like Detroit. An approach to which his running mate, originally from the neighboring state of Ohio, and who presents himself as a voice for a downgraded America, should contribute.
“I can only imagine that they’re going to try to rewrite history and pretend to care about working people,” Michigan Democratic Sen. Debbie Stabenow said Saturday.
“I worked with both of them. I know that’s not true,” she continued, assuring them: “Michigans remember Donald Trump as one of the most anti-labor, anti-union presidents of all time.”
Security device
But attention is likely to focus on the security apparatus, with many questions remaining about failings at the previous meeting.
This new election meeting is being held in a closed sports centre with a capacity of 12,000 spectators, an environment that is easier to secure than an open space.
A crowd of activists are on hand, waiting for their champion. Several people are wearing T-shirts with the image of the billionaire, his ear covered in blood and his fist raised, 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.
“Important decision”
A striking contrast with his Democratic rival, the outgoing president, Joe Biden, who is currently playing for his political survival.
Confined to his private residence in Delaware, the 81-year-old Democrat has been unable to silence the voices urging him to pass the torch, amid nagging questions about his mental acuity and physical fitness.
The candidate 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.
As a result, some now believe the question is no longer whether he will throw in the towel, but rather when. And who might replace him.
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.