‘I took a bullet for democracy’: Donald Trump in first rally after assassination attempt

Trump returned to the campaign trail in Michigan’s Grand Rapids, days after accepting the Republican nomination for president at the Republican National Convention.

“I don’t want to know anything about it. But what they do is misinformation and disinformation, and they keep saying he’s a threat to democracy,” Trump continued, referring to Democrats. ‘I’m saying, ‘What the hell did I do for democracy? Last week, I took a bullet for democracy,” Trump said.

Speaking about Project 2025, Trump said, “They’re seriously extreme, but I don’t know anything about it.”

Democrats have tried to tie Trump to Project 2025, a conservative policy platform organised by the Heritage Platform, whose contributors include former Trump administration officials, according to The Hill report. Former US President and his campaign have denied any support for Project 2025.

During the rally, he said, “I stand before you only by the grace of Almighty God.” Trump was wearing a smaller beige coloured bandage on his right ear at his rally, different from the larger white one he wore at the Republican National Convention earlier this week, according to The Hill report.It was Trump’s first rally after surviving an assassination attempt at a rally in Pennsylvania last Saturday. He was shot in the ear and was escorted off the stage by US Service agents. One attendee and the shooter died during the attack, while two others were injured in the shooting incident in Pennsylvania. Many Trump supporters who came to attend the rally were wearing shirts featuring the image of Trump holding his fist in the air and telling his voters to “fight” as Secret Service agents were escorting him off the stage after the shooting incident in Pennsylvania, CNN reported.

Many of the merchandise tables outside the venue in Michigan’s Grand Rapids were selling shirts to attendees as they waited in queues to enter the indoor arena.

At the same rally in Michigan, Republican Vice presidential nominee JD Vance slammed US Vice President Kamala Harris, questioning her achievements and defending his own loyalty to the country, CNN reported.

Vance said, “There’s some bad news actually, Vice President Kamala Harris, she doesn’t like me.”

“Kamala Harris said something to the effect that … I have no loyalty to this country. Well, I don’t know, Kamala, I did serve in the United States Marine Corps and build a business. What the hell have you done other than collect a check?,” Vance said.

It was Vance’s first rally with former US President Donald Trump after being selected as his running mate. Vance’s remarks came after Kamala Harris earlier this week criticised him for saying he would not have certified the election results of 2020.

Harris even compared Vance to former US Vice President Mike Pence, saying that Vance “would have carried out Trump’s plan to overturn the 2020 election.”

In a video released on Wednesday, Harris said, “Donald Trump has picked his new running mate: JD Vance. Trump looked for someone he knew would be a rubber stamp for his extreme agenda.” She further said, “Make no mistake: JD Vance will be loyal only to Trump, not to our country,” ABC News reported.

In his remarks at the rally, Vance rejected the media’s assessment that Trump and the Republican agenda are “radical” and “dangerous,” CNN reported. He was given a warm welcome in Michigan.