Donald Trump has told a rally in Michigan that he “took a bullet for democracy” when an attempt was made on his life last week.
Attended by thousands, it was Trump’s first rally with new running mate JD Vance - and first since he survived the assassination attempt.
He told a packed arena in Grand Rapids that Democrats have accused him of being “a threat to democracy” and, to huge applause, said he was ready to “take back the White House”.
Many of those at the event, in the battleground state of Michigan, told the BBC that the assassination attempt - which killed an audience member and wounded two others - would not stop them from showing support for the Republican presidential nominee.
Some said they came precisely because of the shooting.
One of the few things that he understands is to accuse other people of exactly what he’s being accused of. If Trump gets called a threat to democracy, he’s going to accuse Biden of being “the real threat to democracy”.
It’s from Steve Bannon’s playbook called “cover the field in shit”, and it stops low-informed voters from easily determining what’s going on, as it plays into a prevailing narrative that all politicians lie. It’s brilliant, it’s wicked, and it’s quickly pushing us towards fascism.