GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — Former President Donald Trump said Saturday immigration wound up being his guardian angel.
Speaking at his first campaign rally since surviving an assassination attempt, Mr. Trump told the raucous crowd gathered here if he had not turned his head at the rally in Bulter, Pennsylvania, last week to highlight a chart showing the influx of illegal immigrants under President Biden he would be dead.
“I owe immigration my life,” Mr. Trump said, adding he is going to be keeping that chart close. “I think I am going to sleep with it tonight.”
Mr. Trump arrived in Michigan days after formally accepting the GOP presidential nomination at the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee and tapping Sen. J.D. Vance as his running mate.
Mr. Vance made his first joint appearance with Mr. Trump as the party’s vice presidential nominee.
He praised Mr. Trump for challenging the Washington establishment and fighting for the working class.
“In 4 years, he undid 30 years of damage of terrible leadership,” Mr. Vance said. “Are we ready to give him four more years?”
Mr. Trump received massive applause from the full house of supporters, many of whom sported shirts with the image of a bloodied Trump raising his fist after being shot, and the words “Fight! Fight! Fight!”
“It was exactly one week ago today – almost to the hour, almost to the minute,” Mr. Trump said, triggering chants of “Trump! Trump! Trump!”
“I stand before you only by the grace of Almighty God,” he said. “I shouldn’t be here.”
The visit coincided with mounting reports that former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and other Democratic leaders are trying to get President Biden to withdraw from the race and allow someone else to step in.
Mr. Trump mocked Democrats last-ditch efforts to replace Mr. Biden, saying it shows they “are the enemies of democracy.”
“[It is] sort of interesting this guy goes and gets the votes, and now they want to take it away – that’s democracy?” he said.
“At this very moment, Democratic Party bosses are frantically trying to overthrow the results of their own party’s primaries to dump crooked Joe Biden from the ballot – couldn’t happen to a nicer guy,” Mr. Trump said. “As you are seeing, the Democratic Party is not the party of democracy. They are really the enemies of democracy.”
“They are the party of corrupt insiders… special interests and the failed political class,” he said. “Under our leadership, the Republican Party is now the part of the people.
“We are the party of hardworking Americans, of every race, region, color, and creed,” Mr. Trump said. “We have become a very big party.”
• Seth McLaughlin can be reached at smclaughlin@washingtontimes.com.
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