Donald Trump held his first joint rally with his vice-presidential candidate for the United States, JD Vance. The main conclusion of the event, which took place in the state of Michigan - one of the six crucial states for the presidency where he is virtually tied with the current president, Joe Biden -, is that the campaign continues to be the Trump show.
Vance, who acted as the 'warm-up act' as usual in these cases, did not connect much with the audience. Not the case for a vibrant Trump, who delivered a speech approximately as long as the one he gave at the Republican Convention on Thursday, but much more exuberant. If some commentators had proclaimed that the candidate was going to convey a message of unity from now on, they must be eating their words now.
Trump returned to his most aggressive rhetoric, already forgetting the alleged moderation he was supposed to adopt after the assassination attempt he suffered eight days ago. An incident about which nothing is known, including the medical report of Trump, which is still undisclosed. The only thing available is a surreal official note from Congressman Ronny Jackson, who was Trump's personal physician at the White House but was not present at the attack. Jackson's credibility is also questionable: he self-identifies as an "admiral," but he is only a Navy captain.
The former president entertained the approximately 12,000 people who packed the Van Andel sports arena with a speech where he criticized left and right. The conspicuous bandage on his ear that he wore at the Convention has now been replaced by a discreet band-aid. Apart from that, it was a style typical of Donald Trump in this campaign. Nothing was missing, including one of the former president's favorite references in recent weeks: comparing illegal immigrants in the United States to Hannibal Lecter, the character played by Anthony Hopkins in the movie The Silence of the Lambs: a psychopathic killer who eats his victims, usually after cooking them.
The 'joke' - if it can be called that - follows the same formula. First, Trump brings up the completely false story that countries around the world are emptying their psychiatric hospitals and prisons to send the inmates to the U.S. border and make that country deal with them. "People from asylums, and they drive you crazy... Hannibal Lecter... the late great Hannibal Lecter would love to have you for dinner. It's the end of you, by the way," Trump said, in a sketch that almost word for word repeated what he did at the Republican Convention with the same idea. It is a successful joke. His audience always celebrates it with laughter.
The Republican candidate thus mixed xenophobia with insults and jokes as only he knows how, praised his hairstyle, said "I hate when people laugh at me," and once again stated that he will win in another crucial state, Wisconsin, because the Republican Convention was held there, leaving millions of dollars in the local hospitality industry. More in line with current events, Trump opened what could be the main line of attack in his campaign in case Joe Biden is forced to withdraw his candidacy by Democratic Party leaders, by pointing out that the president won the primaries by a landslide and now the leaders of his own political party want him not to run. Speaking of elections, he reiterated that he won in 2020.
Trump also said that Biden "has a low IQ", and took aim at potential candidates to succeed him in case he withdraws his candidacy, such as Vice President Kamala Harris, whom he called "crazy," and the Governor of Michigan, Gretchen Whitmer, whom he described as "horrible" and against whom he said "I would like to run in an election."