Grand Rapids: Donald Trump is set to hold a triumphant first campaign rally since surviving an assassination attempt on Saturday in a startling contrast to President Joe Biden, who is staying home with Covid and resisting unprecedented pressure from Democrats to back down.
Before Trump’s address to thousands of passionate supporters in the swing state of Michigan, fellow running back J.D. Vance warmed up the crowd and took a jab at Vice President Kamala Harris.
“I served in the United States Marine Corps and built a business. What the hell did you do other than pick up a check?” he said of the former U.S. senator and California attorney general.
Meanwhile, Biden loyalists continued to defend the embattled president as the drumbeat of calls for him to abandon his campaign intensified amid concerns about his age and fitness to serve, if re-elected, until 2029.
The 81-year-old and his team have remained publicly adamant he is staying in the race, although some reports suggest discussions have begun in his inner circle about exactly how he might step aside.
There has been massive speculation about who could replace him. As vice president, Harris seems best placed to do so.
Sen. Elizabeth Warren, a leading progressive seeking the party’s 2020 presidential endorsement, gave Harris a boost on Saturday without turning her back on the president.
“Joe Biden is our candidate,” she said on MSNBC. “He has a really big decision to make.
“But what gives me great hope right now is that if President Biden decides to step down, we have Vice President Kamala Harris who is ready to step up, unify the party, take on Donald Trump and win. November.”
But some Democrats worry that such a late switch could create chaos that could lead to the party’s demise at the polls.
For its part, Team Trump has been brimming with exceptional bad luck — from a failed assassination attempt to favorable court rulings to Biden’s disastrous debate.
The rally will mark a remarkable moment by any standards as Trump returns to the stage exactly one week after a 20-year-old gunman tried to kill him on a Pennsylvania rooftop.
“I had God on my side,” he said Thursday at the Republican National Convention, demonstrating his absolute control over the party and firing supporters into a rare pitch.
Dozens of Trump’s most ardent supporters began lining up outside Van Andel Arena in Grand Rapids, Michigan on Friday for a rally at 5pm (9pm GMT) on Saturday.
With less than an hour to go before his scheduled arrival, the 12,000 capacity arena was nearly full.
Edward Young, 64, who was preparing for his 81st Trump rally, wore a T-shirt with the now-iconic photo of Trump pumping his fist immediately after the shooting.
“They made him a martyr and kept him alive,” he said, adding, “Now he is more powerful than ever.”
Just as Trump’s convention speech moved quickly from a plea for unity to scathing attacks on the Biden administration, it seems certain Saturday to attack Biden and Harris on illegal immigration, inflation, crime, the wars in Ukraine and Gaza, China policy and mining oil. .
But all eyes will be on the security position, especially given questions about Secret Service outages at the Pennsylvania caucus.
Van Andel Arena is enclosed, allowing for more complete control of the perimeter. However, security is expected to be extremely tight. It will be Trump’s campaign debut with Vance, a U.S. senator from Ohio who, at 39, could help win critical swing states like Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.
