Donald Trump, who held his first campaign rally on July 20 after surviving an assassination attempt, dismissed concerns that he was a threat to democracy and triumphantly told cheering crowds: "Last week I took a bullet for democracy."
"I'm not an extremist at all," he continued at the rally in the troubled state of Michigan, dismissing reports of his ties to Project 2025, a shadowy radical manifesto led by figures close to him that opponents characterize as authoritarian and right-wing.
Trump mocked a rival Democratic Party rocked by unprecedented pressure on President Joe Biden to drop out of the race for the White House amid concerns about his age and fitness to serve if re-elected until 2029.
“They have no idea who their candidate is... This guy goes and gets votes, and now they want to take them away. This is democracy," Trump told a crowd of 12,000 passionate supporters.
Even as he deviated from his typical rambling campaign speech, the rally was a notable moment as Trump returned to the stage exactly one week after a gunman tried to kill him.
The GOP presidential candidate appeared with a new, smaller, flesh-colored bandage over his right ear, bloodied in the attack by the 20-year-old gunman at the Pennsylvania rally that left one bystander dead.
Security at the Van Andel Arena in Grand Rapids, Mich., was reportedly beefed up amid questions about Secret Service lapses at the Pennsylvania rally — though there were few visible signs of an increased law enforcement presence.
Meanwhile, Biden loyalists continued to defend the embattled president as calls for him to drop out of the campaign intensified.
The 81-year-old Biden and team are still publicly adamant that he remains in the race, although some reports say discussions have begun in his inner circle about exactly how he might withdraw. I BGNES
