‘Took a bullet for democracy,’ Donald Trump attacks Democrats

Grand Rapids (Michigan), July 21

Former US president Donald Trump in his first campaign rally since surviving an assassination attempt has dismissed concerns raised by critics that he is a threat to democracy, telling a large crowd in Michigan that he “took a bullet for democracy”.

In the rally in Michigan on Saturday, Trump, who is the Republican presidential nominee for the November 5 elections, was joined by his running mate JD Vance.

“They keep saying he’s a threat to democracy. I’m saying, ‘What the hell did I do to democracy?’ Last week I took a bullet for democracy,” Trump said, referencing an often-used Democrat talking point. “What did I do against democracy? Crazy,” Trump, 78, said amidst applause from thousands of his supporters.

Trump also mocked Democrats and comparing former Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to a “dog.”

Says China’s Xi wrote ‘beautiful note’

Washington: Former US President Donald Trump has said Chinese President Xi Jinping wrote him a note after the Republican presidential nominee suffered a gunshot wound to his ear during an assassination attempt last week. “(Xi) wrote me a beautiful note the other day when he heard about what happened,” Trump told a crowd in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Trump mentioned Xi’s letter while discussing his economic policy toward China during his presidency, adding, “I got along very well with President Xi.” Reuters

After briefly calling for national unity earlier this week, Trump has since returned to his usual campaign tactics — using insulting and sometimes offensive language to attack his opponents, and repeating a string of false claims about immigration, the economy and election fraud, major elements of his speech on Saturday.

Trump frequently mocked Democratic President Joe Biden as feeble. He derided senior Democrats, including Pelosi, for trying to persuade Biden to end his re-election bid. There was a heavy police presence at Trump’s rally in Grand Rapids on Saturday, with police on every street corner for several blocks.

US Secret Service officers were positioned on the top balconies in the Van Andel Arena, giving them a bird’s eye view of the crowd inside.

Fresh from his nominating convention in Milwaukee where his takeover of the Republican Party was cemented, Trump appeared in Grand Rapids with Vance . They took the stage in their first campaign event together with the Republican Party unified behind them. In contrast, it is no longer certain that Biden will be the Democratic Party’s nominee facing Trump in the November 5 election.

Trump attacked Democrats, saying they wanted to kick Biden off the ticket after he won their presidential nominating contest. “They have a couple of problems. No 1, they have no idea who their candidate is,” Trump said to laughter and jeers. “This guy goes and he gets the votes and now they want to take it away.” & Reuters