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Election 2024
Stephen Fowler, NPR
Flint, Mich.

Trump held his first campaign event since the apparent assassination attempt

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Former President Trump attends a town hall meeting moderated by Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders at the Dort Financial Center in Flint, Mich., on Tues.
Former President Trump attends a town hall meeting moderated by Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders at the Dort Financial Center in Flint, Mich., on Tues.
Jeff Kowalsky/AFP via Getty Images

In his first public appearance since an apparent assassination attempt was thwarted on Sunday, former President Donald Trump continued to offer a disjointed but dire picture of America if he does not win in November.

Speaking at a town hall in Flint with Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders, his onetime White House press secretary, Trump mentioned the threats against him — including the assassination attempt against him in July in Butler, Penn. — as evidence that his policy proposals around things like tariffs for foreign-made automotives are powerful.

“You know, only consequential presidents get shot,” he said. “You have to do what you have to do, right? You have to — we have to be brave, otherwise we're not going to have a country left.”

Trump said he spoke with Vice President Kamala Harris about Sunday’s incident where a man with a long criminal history allegedly pointed a rifle through a fence several holes ahead of where he was golfing at the Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach, Fla.

“A little while ago, I got a very nice call from Kamala,” he said. “It was very nice, it was very nice, and we appreciate that, but we have to take back our country. We have to win. We're going to win, and we're going to Make America Great Again.”

Trump took three questions from the audience in addition to providing lengthy monologues about relationships with foreign leaders, his rally crowd attendance and how his comments aren’t rambling but rather “genius” statements.

“What do you see as the major threats to the future of Michigan manufacturing auto worker jobs, and what will you do to eliminate those threats?” a Ford worker named Isaiah asked.

Trump began his response by saying the only major threat was hostile countries having nuclear weapons, before pivoting to President Biden’s call about the attempted assassination, global warming being “a good thing” because of more oceanfront property and a stump speech talking point that America is close to World War Three. Trump eventually said he would enact tariffs against Mexico and China and that he was meeting with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

The Indian embassy in Washington, D.C. did not immediately respond to a request for comment to confirm the meeting, which has not been previously reported. Modi is scheduled to be in Delaware this weekend for a summit hosted by President Biden with leaders from Australia and Japan. 

At one point, Trump mixed up the location of Bagram Air Base, saying it was in Alaska, when talking about both oil drilling and the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan as part of a 10-minute monologue in response to Sanders noting the crowd would vote for him in November.

With just seven weeks to go until Election Day, Trump’s campaign has seen muddled messaging following last week’s presidential debate.

Ohio Sen. JD Vance, Trump’s running mate, has drawn fire for boosting false claims that Haitian migrants were eating pets in Springfield, Ohio — comments that have seen intense negative attention on the southwest Ohio town, including multiple bomb threats and a slew of canceled events.

Harris said during a panel interview put on by the National Association of Black Journalists Tuesday that the lies about Haitian immigrants were rooted in racist tropes and called them a “crying shame.”

“When you are bestowed with a microphone that is that big, there is a profound responsibility that comes with that,” Harris said.

While the Trump campaign has sought to highlight Harris’ changed stances on a number of issues and her attempts to distance herself from Biden’s unpopularity around the economy and immigration, Trump has used his metaphorical microphone in ways that overshadow that message.

For example, Trump posted “I HATE TAYLOR SWIFT!” on his Truth Social website after the pop star endorsed Harris and repudiated the former president’s reposting of fake AI-generated images to imply she supported his candidacy.

Trump heads to Long Island Wednesday for another campaign rally.

Copyright 2024, NPR