by Teresa Boudreaux
In his first campaign event since surviving an assassination attempt and accepting the party’s nomination at the Republican National Convention, Donald Trump addressed auto workers in Michigan on Saturday.
Mixing the standard economic and immigration issues, he also pushed back against his opponent’s talk of a “threat to democracy.”
“They keep saying, ‘He’s a threat to democracy,’” Trump told thousands at Van Andel Arena in downtown Grand Rapids, the state’s second-largest city. “I say, ‘What the hell have I done for democracy?’ I took a bullet for democracy last week.”
Later, in a moment of humor and faith, he gave credit to both God and the immigration chart. he turned to look before the bullet grazed him as the reason for their survival.
“So I owe my life to immigration,” he said dispassionately.
It took U.S. Sen. J.D. Vance, R-Ohio, just three minutes to introduce him. It took Trump more than 100 minutes. A beige bandage, smaller than the last time he was seen at the convention, covered his injured right ear.
About an hour before taking the stage, Dr. Ronny Jackson issued a statement saying that his recovery was going well, that a full CT scan of his head had been performed at Bulter Memorial Hospital in Pennsylvania, and that a comprehensive hearing test would be performed soon.
The line to get on board stretched more than 2 miles and wrapped around the freeway exit at 1:30 p.m., four hours before Trump was due to speak.
The former president drew cheers, laughter and deafening applause throughout the event. At one point, he called out a supporter from the crowd wearing a United Auto Workers T-shirt.
Trump first polled the crowd on which Democrat he should compete with, pointing to the party’s volatility in support for President Joe Biden. Trump mentioned Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmertelling the audience, “You’ve got a terrible governor here. I’d like to compete with her. She’s one of the 20 that were mentioned. She did a terrible job.”
In addition to the automotive industry workers and Border protectionTrump has promised to cut energy bills in half, reduce crime, eliminate tip taxes and lower inflation if elected. He has also spent a lot of time talking about energy policy under the Biden administration.
“They don’t know what the hell they’re doing,” he said. “They’re incompetent. This is a threat to democracy. This is a threat to our country.”
He also called the Green New Deal a “green fraud.” He said America would not only become energy independent but energy dominant. And he pointed to the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska as a key one.
“The environment is very important to me, but you can’t use it to destroy our country,” he said, referring to the ban on drilling in ANWR.
To boos and laughter from the crowd, Trump ridiculed the Biden administration’s plan to electrify Army tanks.
“So when we’re going to bomb a country, we do it in an environmentally friendly way,” he joked.
Trump pointing at Elon Musk’s supportHe explained that he is not against electric vehicles. He is against forcing manufacturers to produce more than the market dictates.
“I am a person of great common sense, not an extremist,” he said, to enthusiastic approval from the crowd.
Speaking about Project 2025, Trump said it is a far-right movement and that he is not affiliated with it.
“I don’t know what the hell this is,” he said. “It’s extreme, but I don’t know anything about it and I don’t want to know anything about it.”
Trump also linked foreign policy to national security, another major theme at the event. He spoke of reciprocal tariffs, promising that countries like Mexico and North Korea would “fear us,” as they did during his presidency.
He continued to fuel party unity, saying: Republicans left Milwaukee, Wisconsin, together like never before.
“We have never been so determined,” he said. “Something bad happened last time. We will not let it happen again. We will never stop working to ensure a great future for our people, and together we will fight, fight, fight, right? And we will win, we will win, we will win.”
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Thérèse Boudreaux is a contributor Central Square.
Photos by Donald Trump.
