Former President Donald Trump speaks at a Grand Rapids rally, July 20, 2024 | Lucy Valeski
One week out from the assassination attempt at a Pennsylvania rally, former President Donald Trump returned to Grand Rapids with his newly nominated running mate, U.S. Sen. J.D. Vance (R-Ohio), where they were met with thunderous cheers from thousands of supporters.
Trump, who sported a smaller bandage on his ear than he had at the Republican National Convention (RNC) in Milwaukee, delivered a nearly two-hourlong speech covering a wide range of topics, including the assassination attempt on him, electric vehicles, immigration, international affairs and the former president’s fear of sharks.
He also continued attacking and name calling Democratic leaders, including President Joe Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris, former U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer.
Saturday’s rally in West Michigan marked the first campaign event for freshman senator Vance as a member of the Trump ticket, following the RNC. The convention concluded Thursday with Trump’s nomination acceptance speech exceeding 90 minutes, a party convention record.
Vance emerged on the political scene with the publication of his memoir, “Hillbilly Elegy,” a somewhat controversial take on the causes of rural poverty in Appalachia. A former vocal Trump critic, he was elected to the U.S. Senate in 2022 after picking up an endorsement from the former president.
U.S. Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D-Lansing) said in a press call Saturday morning that Vance is a “clone” of Trump, and that he would say whatever the former president told him to during the campaign. In 2016, Vance floated that Trump could be “America’s Hitler” in private texts.
“We already knew that Donald Trump cares about Donald Trump, but now we also see that J.D. Vance cares about J.D. Vance in terms of changing his positions in order to be part of the ticket,” Stabenow said.
Biden visited Detroit a little over a week ago and Harris stopped near Kalamazoo Wednesday. Both Trump and Biden are hoping to win Michigan’s 15 electoral votes in November.
While Trump triumphed in Michigan over former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in 2016, the state flipped back to Democrats in 2020 with Biden. This election, Trump has consistently led in state polls.
Michigan Republican Party Chair Pete Hoekstra; U.S. Reps. Tim Walberg (R-Tipton), Jack Bergman (R-Watersmeet), Bill Huizenga (R-Zeeland) and Brian Mast (R-Fla.); and former state Sen. Tom Barrett (R-Charlotte), the presumptive Republican nominee for Michigan’s 7th Congressional District, offered their support for Trump ahead of his speech.
While Democrats have referred to Grand Rapids and Michigan’s 3rd Congressional District — held by U.S. Rep. Hillary Scholten (D-Grand Rapids)— as part of their “blue wall,” Huizenga countered, saying, “Joe Biden, just like Hillary Clinton in 2016 is going to find out that that blue wall here in the Midwest — Wisconsin, Michigan and Pennsylvania — that wall is crumbling for them like a cookie.”
“Donald Trump knows that, that’s why he’s here, and in fact he even took a guy from Ohio to come here — OK, pause for boos from the Michigan fans,” Huizenga said in a joking nod to the rivalry between Ohio State University — Vance’s alma mater — and the University of Michigan.
Notably, Scholten is among the group of about two dozen federal lawmakers who have called on Biden to withdraw after his poor debate performance underscored ongoing concerns about his age and health.
While a few members of the crowd chanted “O-H” as Vance took the stage, the Ohio Senator jokingly said he would not respond to the chants to respect Michigan.
“We got to win Michigan, that’s the most important thing this election cycle,” Vance said.
Vance shared the story of his upbringing in southern Ohio, where he was raised by his grandmother due to his mother’s struggles with drug addiction.
“She kept me on the straight and narrow and gave me a chance at the American dream. And what is this campaign about if not restoring the American dream for every child in the country,” Vance said.
He called both the Democratic and the Republican parties “broken in very profound ways” criticizing politicians on both sides of the aisle for offshoring manufacturing jobs.
Vance called on attendees to reelect Trump in order to close down the border and bring a sense of security to the country.
While welcoming Trump to the stage later on, Vance blasted Biden for supporting the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and the Iraq war, both of which Trump opposed. NAFTA lifts tariffs from products exchanged between Canada, Mexico and the United States, a trade agreement that Trump has criticized for reducing jobs in the country.
“Even though he [Trump] was a real estate developer in New York, he knew instinctively what this country needed and had put the interests of the citizens of this country first,” Vance said.
Trump thanked his followers for the outpouring of support following last week’s assassination attempt, saying his campaign continues to pray for the families of the injured. Corey Comperatore, a firefighter, was the one person killed during last week’s rally by the gunman trying to assassinate Trump.
Trump also recapped the Republican National Convention, calling it a “four-day love fest,” while criticizing Democrats for scrambling over Biden’s nomination, as calls for the current president to drop from the race continue.
After asking the audience if they’d rather run for president against Biden or Vice President Kamala Harris, Trump called Whitmer “a terrible governor,” saying he’d like to run against her for president.
“At this very moment, Democrat Party bosses are frantically trying to overthrow the results of their own party’s primaries to dump crooked Joe Biden from the ballot,” Trump said. “Couldn’t happen to a nicer guy.”
In a video posted to social media ahead of the rally, Whitmer welcomed Trump and Vance to the state, saying its residents weren’t interested in implementing a nationwide abortion ban, while touting efforts to lower costs on prescription drugs, education and housing.
Welcome to Michigan, Donald Trump and JD Vance. Here’s what you need to know: pic.twitter.com/AiRALGWtpC
— Gretchen Whitmer (@gretchenwhitmer) July 20, 2024
Whitmer also told Trump and Vance the state would reject “your extreme Project 2025 agenda.”
In recent weeks Democrats have slammed the Trump campaign over the list of far-right policy proposals for a far-right presidential administration assembled by the Heritage foundation.
Trump further attempted to distance himself from Project 2025, calling some of the proposals “seriously extreme.”
While Trump has previously denied knowing any of the authors of the conservative policy wishlist, he conceded he knew who some of the authors were, calling them “very conservative.”
“They’re sort of the opposite of the radical left. Okay, you have the radical left, and you have the radical right, and they come up with this — I don’t know what the hell it is, this Project 2025,” Trump said.
“I don’t know anything about it. I don’t want to know anything about it,” he said.
A review from CNN found that 140 former members of the Trump administration had contributed to the collection of far-right policy proposals, including six former cabinet members.
Trump also continued to stoke fears around crime and immigration, citing examples of “migrant crime” within Michigan, including burglaries of high-end homes in Oakland County, which Oakland County Sheriff Michael Bouchard said are tied to Chilean gangs.
While many Republicans have argued undocumented immigration leads to increased crime, research from Stanford University found first-generation immigrants are 60% less likely to be incarcerated than individuals born in the U.S. An investigation from the Marshall Project has also found no link between undocumented immigrants and increased crime.
While the FBI reported a 15.2% decrease in violent crime in its latest quarterly crime report, Trump argued crime was on the rise, and renewed his pledge to launch the “largest deportation operation in the history of our country.”
Throughout the course of his speech he also promised to bring the auto industry and manufacturing back to Michigan, cut taxes and restore law and order and patriotism in schools alongside a number of other proposals attacking LGBTQ+ individuals and schools teaching “inappropriate racial, sexual, political content.”
In May, Trump was convicted of 34 felonies in a New York State Court for falsifying business records in relation to a hush money payment made to adult film actress Stormy Daniels ahead of the 2016 election. He is also facing charges for attempting to overturn the 2020 election, as well as anti-racketeering charges in Georgia.
In her post, Whitmer also called Michigan a proud-union state, saying, “UAW workers here still remember when Donald Trump broke his promises to Michigan Workers.”
Trump continued to blast United Auto Workers president Shawn Fain, who has spoken out against the former president’s record on labor rights and endorsed Biden in January. In his RNC speech, Trump called for Fain to resign and said union and non-union workers should vote for him in the presidential race.Trump also praised Tesla CEO Elon Musk, who recently endorsed him.
Musk, who is currently embroiled in a lawsuit to declare the National Labor Relations Board unconstitutional, has said he will pledge around $45 million a month to Trump’s campaign.
Trump also renewed his promise to pass the Trump reciprocal trade act.
“If China charges us a 100 or 200% tariff or tax, we will charge them a 200% tax,” Trump said.
“You screw us and we’ll screw you; it’s very simple,” he said.
He also promised to put an end to the Biden-Harris administration’s push to expand EV production — calling the goals a “mandate” — and the “Green New Scam.”
He blasted efforts to transition the U.S. to renewable energy sources, continuing calls to “drill baby, drill” expanding oil drilling in the U.S.
Trump also promised to “cut taxes even further than we did before,” promising to ax taxes on tips. The plan could result in budget deficits, and Democratic lawmakers say it doesn’t address the need to raise the federal minimum wage.
He continued to falsely accuse Democrats of election fraud, furthering a repeatedly debunked conspiracy that Democrats are registering non-citizens to vote.
The former president celebrated his recent legal victory in Florida, before falsely claiming he had been indicted more than Al Capone, and calling the indictments “Biden indictments.”
On Monday, federal District Judge Aileen Cannon dropped charges alleging Trump mishandled national documents on the grounds that the U.S. that the Department of Justice unlawfully appointed special counsel Jack Smith.
Trump closed his speech by promising to restore “peace through strength” by building an iron dome missile defense shield across the U.S., saying much of it would be built in Michigan.
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The post Trump and Vance talk RNC, assassination attempt and manufacturing at Grand Rapids rally appeared first on Michigan Advance.
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