Former President Trump and Sen. JD Vance (R-Ohio) campaigned together for the first time as a part of the newly minted GOP presidential ticket in Michigan on Saturday, and Trump’s running mate wasted no time criticizing Vice President Harris.
“Now, I've had such an incredible, a blessed week. What a cool thing it was to be asked by President Trump to serve as his running mate and get out there on the campaign trail. But there's some bad news actually,” Vance said roughly a minute into his speech, speaking to supporters at a rally in Grand Rapids, Mich. “The vice president - Kamala Harris - she doesn't like me.
“Kamala Harris said something to the effect that I have no loyalty to this country,” the Ohio Republican continued. “Well, I don't know Kamala. I did serve in the United States Marine Corps and built a business. What the hell have you done other than collect a check?”
Several days after Trump tapped Vance as his vice-presidential pick amid the Republican National Convention, Harris rebuked Vance while speaking to supporters in North Carolina – offering an early preview of how the two running mates are looking to make their case against each other.
“It’s a compelling story,” Harris said about Vance’s personal story. “And, it was not the full story.”
“Frankly, what is very telling is what he did not talk about on that stage. He did not talk about Project 2025, their 900-page blueprint for a second Trump term. He did not talk about it because their plans are extreme and they are divisive,” she explained during the rally.
The rally in Grand Rapids offered Republicans their first chance to see the two men campaign together since Vance was officially selected as Trump’s running mate.
The rally came just days after the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee wrapped up and exactly one week since Trump was shot in the ear during an attempted assassination while he was campaigning in Butler, Pa.
Trump wore a smaller, flesh-tone bandage on his ear at the Michigan rally, a contrast to the larger white bandage he wore at the RNC earlier this week. He spoke about the shooting, thanking people for their support following the attack, describing the ordeal later in his speech as taking “a bullet for democracy.”
He also offered some rare praise for news outlets, saying they covered the incident “fairly.” He also said the journalists covered the RNC and its unified tone, which he described as a “big, beautiful, four-day love fest,” “correctly.”
The former president also made light of Democrats' predicament over Biden and lingering questions around the Democratic presidential nominee, at one point remarking, “Number one, they have no idea who their candidate is, and neither do we. That's a problem.”
Despite calls by some Democrats calling on Biden to withdraw from the race, he and his team have remained adamant that he’s staying in the race. Sens. Jon Tester (D-Mont.) and Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio), both in tight reelection races, and Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) were among the most prominent members of the party calling on Biden to exit the race.
Trump suggested during his rally that he’d “like to run against” Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D), who’s been floated as a potential replacement for Biden, though Whitmer has disavowed the idea.
Like Vance, Trump also slammed Harris – who’s found herself increasingly in the spotlight amid conversations around Biden and his candidacy – and described her as “laughin’ Kamala,” “crazy” and “nuts.” He called Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), a well-known adversary of his, as "crazy as a bedbug.”
Much of Trump’s speech also took on familiar themes, including inflation and immigration, while also touching on other topics like electric vehicles and criticizing Shawn Fain, who helms the United Auto Workers. The former president also reiterated his disavowal of Project 2025, calling it “seriously extreme.”
Biden campaign spokesman Ammar Moussa issued a statement after Trump’s rally slamming the event.
“We were promised a new Donald Trump who would unite the country – instead all we saw tonight was the same Donald Americans keep rejecting over and over: He’s peddling the same lies, running the same campaign of revenge and retribution, touting the same failed policies, and – as usual – focused only on himself,” he said. “The only unity we saw today was between Donald Trump, JD Vance, and their Project 2025 agenda.”
Michigan is among a handful of critical battleground states that will determine the presidency in the fall. An aggregate of Michigan surveys compiled by Decision Desk HQ shows Trump edging out Biden 45 percent to 44 percent.
Vance is expected to rally in Ohio and Virginia on Monday.
