Last updated on August 27th, 2024 at 06:58 pm
Donald Trump prepares for his first campaign rally on Saturday following the narrow escape from an assassination attempt exactly a week ago. The rally comes in the wake of his nominating convention, which solidified his control over the Republican Party.
Trump will be joined in the key battleground state of Grand Rapids, Michigan, by his new vice presidential pick Ohio U.S. Senator J.D. Vance, in what will be their first appearance together as the official Republican presidential ticket.
Republican Party officials said at Trump’s nominating convention in Milwaukee that last Saturday’s near-fatal incident had changed him. In his acceptance speech on Thursday night, Trump was likely to call for national unity.
Though Trump’s speech opened with a call for unity and national healing, much of it was comprised of the same grievances and attacks on opponents that he has often expressed. It is unclear what sort of speech Trump will give on Saturday, but his most consistent and loyal supporters are usually in attendance when he holds events featuring his more traditional inflammatory rhetoric.
Trump and Vance appear on a Grand Rapids stage with the Republican Party behind them for the first time since this week’s nominating convention. Across the aisle, the Democratic Party remains in disarray, and it is yet to be seen whether President Joe Biden will be the Democratic nominee opposing Trump in the November 5 election.
The growing pressure: Joe Biden was under growing pressure from many elected officials within his own party to step aside as Democratic candidate and withdraw his re-election bid after he poorly debated with Trump last month. Biden is behind, according to opinion polls, in every swing state against Trump. Many Democrats fear he may have little to no path to victory and believe the party needs a new candidate to take on Trump.
Well, how about that-the Grand Rapids speech will be inside, not outside like last weekend in Butler, Pennsylvania. At that event, a gunman climbed to the roof of a building outside the Secret Service perimeter and opened fire on Trump, grazing his ear and then shooting up the crowd, killing a rally-goer and injuring several others in the criminal spree.
The U.S. Secret Service, which has been mandated to protect Trump, has refused to say a thing about what security measures they are taking for the Grand Rapids event. An investigation regarding the security failures at the Butler rally is still ongoing.
“The Secret Service does not discuss the means and methods used for our protective operations,” it said in an emailed statement.
In his convention speech on Thursday night, Trump described in detail the narrow escape from death, telling those in attendance he was only speaking to them “by the grace of Almighty God.”
