Dem
51
GOP
49
We wrote this up for yesterday, but it got pushed out by the Giant Reset. Still, it is noteworthy. Together with his newly minted running mate, Sen. JD Vance (R-OH), Donald Trump held his first rally (in Grand Rapids, MI) since a bullet narrowly missed his head last week. Did his brush with death change anything? Nope. He mocked the Democrats, called Nancy Pelosi a "dog," Joe Biden "feeble," Kamala Harris "crazy," and lied about everything from the economy to immigration. It was a dark speech, about how prisoners from mental institutions are being let into the country by the Democrats. The fictional cannibal Hannibal Lecter also made an appearance. And there was that old chestnut, that he (Trump, not Lecter) won the 2020 election and it was stolen from him. His motto is: Give the people what they want, whether any of it is true is irrelevant. Trump spoke for almost 2 hours.
At the convention, Trump talked a little bit about unity. That is all gone now. At the rally, he did everything he could to rile up the crowd. It was his standard stump speech, with one notable addition. Trump now claims that he took a bullet for democracy. This was evidenced by the bandage on his right ear. Now it was a small brown one instead of the big white one he had on just after the shooting. How long will it be before he claims he almost died for his supporters' sins? After all, the town where Trump got shot is just a few hundred miles from Bethlehem, PA. That is where that other savior, who also didn't write his own book, is from, right?
One thing that is different from before the attack is security. There were U.S.S.S. officers stationed all over the Van Andel Arena, presumably including many snipers, although photos of snipers are hard to find. There was also a very heavy police presence outside the venue, with at least one officer on every corner for many blocks around it. This time no one was taking any chances.
Before Trump spoke, Vance served as the warm-up act. He spoke for only 13 minutes, though. He is not very well known. One attendee said: "I had to Wikipedia him." "To Google" has long been a verb. Now, "to Wikipedia" has apparently also achieved that status. Will we soon get "to LinkedIn" as a verb? It doesn't sound right, although "I Linked him In" might work. (V)