Trump holds first rally after assassination attempt with new running mate, Vance, by his side

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (AP) — Donald Trump is making his first public campaign appearance since surviving an assassination attempt last week, returning to the uncertain state of Michigan with his new running mate.

Trump will be joined by Sen. J.D. Vance of Ohio for what will be the pair’s first event together since they became the GOP nominees at the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee. Trump kicked off the gathering of Republicans by naming Vance as his vice presidential nominee and closed it with a speech urging unity following a July 13 shooting in Pennsylvania that left Trump with a bloody ear, one man in the crowd dead and two others wounded.

“I find it hard to believe that a week ago an assassin tried to take Donald Trump’s life, and now we have a huge crowd in Michigan to welcome him back to the campaign trail,” Vance said, speaking ahead of Trump’s arrival.

Hours before he took the stage, Trump’s supporters lined the streets of downtown Grand Rapids in anticipation of the former president’s remarks. Supporters began lining up Friday morning, and by Saturday afternoon, the line stretched nearly a mile from the venue’s entrance.

Almost an hour before he was due to take the stage, supporters had filled almost all the seats in the 12,000-seat Van Andel Arena.

Many were seen wearing shirts with Trump’s image on stage after he was shot, his fist in the air after surviving the shooting, along with the customary red caps that read “Make America Great Again.”

Mike Gaydos, who traveled from Indiana to the rally with his three sons, said he had not considered himself a “big” Trump supporter in the past but wanted to show his support for the former president after his attempted assassination.

“We can’t let something like that break our necks,” he said. “Bravery is what I thought he showed that day and I want to show my sons what bravery is.”

Numerous streets, closed off as an extra security measure, were lined with vendors selling food and clothing. Among them was a vendor from North Carolina who said he had spent the night making shirts that read “Trump Vance ’24.”

There was also a significant police presence in downtown Grand Rapids, with officers on nearly every block, but others patrolling on horseback and bicycles.

“This is the tightest security I’ve ever seen,” said Renee White, who said she’s been to 33 of Trump’s rallies. “Normally we can take some small bags, but today I had to just leave stuff there.”

White was behind the podium at the rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, where the gunman opened fire from a nearby rooftop. She described the shooting as “surreal” but said it wouldn’t stop her from attending rallies.

“If I’m going to be taken, at least I’m doing something I love, right?” White said.

She said she became emotional when Trump detailed the shooting in his speech to delegates.

“I shouldn’t be here tonight,” Trump told the packed convention hall. The crowd of thousands, listening in silence, shouted back: “Yes, you are.”

Michigan is one of a handful of crucial swing states expected to determine the outcome of November’s presidential election. Trump narrowly won the state by just over 10,000 votes in 2016, but Democrat Joe Biden won it back in 2020, winning by a margin of 154,000 votes to clinch the presidency.

Trump’s selection of Vance was seen as a move to build support among so-called Rust Belt voters in places like Michigan, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and Ohio, who helped Trump secure his surprise victory in 2016. Vance specifically mentioned those places during his convention acceptance speech, emphasizing that he grew up in poverty in a small town in Ohio and promising not to forget the working class, whose “jobs were sent overseas and their children were sent to war.”

Democrats dominated recent elections in Michigan, but Republicans now see an opening in the state as Democrats grow increasingly divided over whether Biden should drop out of the race. Biden has insisted he is not giving up and has tried to turn the focus back on Trump. On Friday, he said Trump’s acceptance speech at the Republican convention showed a “dark vision for the future.”

The 81-year-old incumbent Democrat, who appeared in Detroit this month, is currently in isolation at his beachfront home in Delaware recovering from COVID-19.

Grand Rapids, the largest city in Kent County, has historically been a Republican stronghold but has increasingly turned blue. It was one of three Michigan counties that Trump won in 2016 but Biden flipped in 2020. It’s also an area where Rep. Nikki Haley secured a significant number of votes when she ran against Trump in the GOP primary, a group of voters both presidential campaigns now hope to win over. Haley urged her supporters to back Trump in a speech on the convention floor.

Democrat Hillary Scholten, Rep. from Grand Rapids, is among a growing number of lawmakers calling on Biden to withdraw from the race after last month’s disastrous debate performance.

___ Colvin reported from New York,