Donald Trump had vowed to never again discuss the moment a gunman grazed him with a bullet during a packed rally in Pennsylvania, claiming it was “too painful”.
But when the Republican nominee returned to the campaign trail seven days after he was rushed off stage by a gaggle of Secret Service agents, he couldn’t help himself.
After the dramatic attempt on his life, Trump basked in the deafening screams of his thousands of supporters in Grand Rapids, Michigan, as he regaled them with stories about the attempt on his life.
“Last week I took a bullet for democracy,” Trump said to a rapturous applause from the audience, who waved a sea of placards emblazoned Trump and Vance.
“And when you think of it, it was exactly one week ago today, almost to the hour, even to the minute,” he later added, with his fans breaking out in chants of “fight, fight, fight”.
The only physical evidence of last week’s would-be assassination was the small flesh-coloured plaster covering the top of Trump’s right ear, which had replaced the larger, white bandage.
Security had been enhanced at the Van Andel Arena in light of the assassination attempt in Butler, with more than 100 police officers stationed inside the venue and positioned on each street corner outside.
Punters had to walk past a row of officers holding sniffer dogs and bags were meticulously searched. Even laptops were fired up on the door to ensure they weren’t disguised sinister devices.
Some eager Trump fans had camped outside the arena the night before the event in a bid to get a prime position inside the venue.
Meanwhile, industrious merchandise sellers were flogging the latest Trump wares outside, including freshly printed T-shirts emblazoned with pictures of Trump pumping his fist in the air in the seconds after the shooting last week.
Saturday’s rally was held in one of the vital blue wall swing states Joe Biden needs to retain if he is to beat Trump this November.
Recent polls put Trump ahead in the important battleground state. The Trump campaign will likely have been hoping to harness the power of his new running mate to help appeal to voters in the Rust Belt state.
Hot off the heels of the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, Trump was introduced on stage by his newly anointed vice president pick JD Vance.
The Ohio senator, 39, marvelled at the “incredible turnout”, telling the audience: “I find it hard to believe that a week ago, an assassin tried to take Donald Trump’s life and now we’ve got a hell of a crowd in Michigan to welcome him back on the campaign trail”.
Appearing unfazed by the attempt on his life, Trump, 78, lapped up the chants of his name as he sauntered on stage.
Supporters cheered so intensely that one woman in a bejewelled Trump cap looked like she was going to keel over from the exertion.
The Republican nominee savoured every moment of his lengthy and at times meandering speech, which spanned more than 100 minutes – longer than his remarks at the Republican convention.
Dressed in his usual armour of a red tie and navy suit, Trump flitted between mocking the Democrats for their attempted coup to remove Mr Biden from the ballot, to declaring his “love” for Elon Musk.
Along with making sombre remarks about the “evil attack” which killed former fire chief Corey Comperatore, 50, who Trump hailed as a “hero”, the former president also cracked several jokes during an off-script riff about the attack.
A relaxed Trump gestured with his arms as he demonstrated how he turned his head to look at a board showing immigration statistics, which prevented the bullet hitting his head, saving his life.
“I owe immigration my life,” he told the audience.
“That sign is very good, I think I’m going to sleep with it tonight,” he joked, prompting huge cheers and laughs from the audience.
Buoyed by the sea of red MAGA hats, Trump also paused while attacking Bidenomics to joke about his “very severe combover”.
“That’s a severe sucker. What’s with that one? It looks OK from the other side,” he said, turning his head to the right, before adding: “But that is very severe. I apologise.”
He also mocked the Democrats for having “no idea who their candidate is” amid growing calls for Mr Biden to step aside from within his party.
But although he boasted some new material, Trump’s speech was at times repetitive and irrelevant as it veered off on tangents about electrocution and shark attacks.
His calls for “national unity” in the wake of last week’s shooting also appeared to be a distant memory as he launched personal attacks against “radical Left”.
Trump branded his election rival Mr Biden “crooked” and a “sick, weak, pathetic man” and called Kamala Harris “crazy” and “nuts”.
He also attacked Nancy Pelosi, who is among senior Democrats to have reportedly privately suggested Mr Biden consider dropping out of the presidential race.
“Did you see Nancy Pelosi is selling out now? Did you see she turned on him like a dog?” Trump said, prompting a rapturous laugh from the audience.
“Where did that come from? She was 100 per cent and all of a sudden she’s not sure. She’s crazy as a bedbug”, he said.
Throughout his speech Trump also derided the state’s Democrat governor Gretchen Whitmer, whose name has been floated among possible contenders to replace Mr Biden on the ballot.
“I’d love to run against her,” Trump told the crowd.
Despite the fatal attack at last week’s rally, attendees on Saturday were unconcerned about threats to their safety.
Sharon Anderson, 68, a Republican delegate from Tennessee, said “no liberal with a gun” was going to keep her away from her 55th rally.
Tim Dolan, a 65-year-old bricklayer dressed in a MAGA hat, drove almost three hours across Michigan to attend the rally.
Asked if he was concerned about his safety after the attack in Butler, he replied curtly: “No, I’ll duck.”
Meanwhile, Josh Williams, 17, and his sister Lydia, 19, may have had no fears about their safety – but their “nervous” mother did.
The pair, who were both dressed in $20 “fight, fight, fight” T-shirts they had bought outside the venue, said they were only allowed to drive the four-and-a-half hours to the rally from Noblesville, Indiana, if they promised they wouldn’t sit behind Trump.
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