Donald Trump held on Saturday his first campaign rally since he survived an assassination attempt, returning to the battleground state of Michigan alongside his newly named running mate.
“It was exactly one week ago, even to the hour, even to the minute,” Trump told the crowd, reflecting on the July 13 shooting in Pennsylvania that left him with a bloodied ear, killed one of his supporters, and left two others injured.
“I stand before you only by the grace of almighty God,” he said, the white gauze on his ear now replaced by a skin-colored bandage. “I shouldn’t be here right now.”
Trump also talked about the shooting, acting out how he’d turned his head to look up at a chart of southern border crossings projected on a giant screen, narrowly dodging the bullet that hit his ear.
“I owe immigration my life,” he said.
Trump distances himself from Project 2025
During the rally, Trump pushed back against efforts to cast him as a threat to democracy and an extremist, even as he has vowed mass deportations and threatened retribution against his political enemies.
He also again tried to distance himself from the Heritage Foundation’s Project 2025, a policy and personnel plan for a second Trump term that was crafted by a host of former administration officials.
Trump blasted the project, which has become a centerpiece of Biden’s campaign, as “severe right” and “seriously extreme,” just like the “radical left.”
“I don’t know anything about it,” he insisted.
