Donald Trump, new running mate JD Vance to campaign in Michigan in first rally after shooting
Former President Donald Trump will return to Michigan, holding the first rally with his newly selected running mate U.S. Sen. J.D. Vance of Ohio. The rally is scheduled to take place a week after a gunman opened fire on Trump in an assassination attempt during an event in Pennsylvania.
The Trump campaign announced the former president and Vance will hold a rally in Grand Rapids on Saturday, with doors opening at 1 p.m. and the program scheduled to begin at 5 p.m. The rally, which is open to the public, will take place at Van Andel Arena in downtown Grand Rapids.
The campaign's selection of Michigan as the first state to hold a rally with both Trump and Vance is a signal of the state's importance in this fall's election — Trump believes he can claim Michigan like he did in 2016, flipping it back after President Joe Biden won the state by around 154,000 votes in 2020. Michigan is part of the so-called "Blue Wall" along with Wisconsin and Pennsylvania, as the three states are generally seen as key for any Democratic candidate in a presidential election. Trump winning any or all of the states would likely mean a victory over Biden.
Michigan is hosting Trump's first rally after the Republican National Convention, taking place this week in Milwaukee. Trump is scheduled to speak Thursday at the convention, where Michigan Republicans have coalesced behind the party's nominee as he attempts to regain the White House.
Trump announced Vance's selection as his running mate Monday. In announcing his pick on Truth Social, Trump said he gave the matter "lengthy deliberation and thought" and decided that Vance, 39, was "the person best suited" to be a potential vice president.
Saturday's rally also will be the first public rally after Trump was shot in the ear in an assassination attempt during a campaign rally in Pennsylvania last weekend. Trump was rushed off stage by Secret Service agents after a gunman, 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks, opened fire. Crooks was killed by the Secret Service; one other person was killed and two others were wounded in the shooting.
Recent public opinion polling shows Trump holding a slim lead over Biden in Michigan — the polling average on election website FiveThirtyEight shows Trump leading Biden by 0.7 percentage points for polls conducted in Michigan.
The Biden campaign is also keen on Michigan's importance to the electoral map — Vice President Kamala Harris is scheduled to make campaign stops in parts of west Michigan on Wednesday to shore up support from voters. Biden held a rally in Detroit last Friday, where he vowed to remain in the race, batting down calls from some within his own party to withdraw from the race over concerns about his age.
Trump most recently visited Michigan for a stop at a church in Detroit in June. He held an event in Grand Rapids in April where he criticized Biden's record on immigration. Grand Rapids also hosted Trump's final rallies before Election Day in 2016 and 2020.
Members of the public can register for up to two tickets to the Grand Rapids rally, according to the Trump campaign. Registration can take place online at Trump's campaign website.
USA Today contributed to this report.
Contact Arpan Lobo: [email protected].
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Trump, Vance to hold rally in Grand Rapids after Republican convention
