Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump held a rally in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, on Wednesday, marking his first rally appearance in the state since the assassination attempt against him on July 13 in Butler.
The indoor event carried increased and visible security from the U.S. Secret Service, Pennsylvania State Police and the Transportation Security Administration.
One person died and two other people were injured in the July 13 shooting, which left Trump with a bloody ear.
“In the wake of this heinous attack, we gather tonight more determined than ever. Our resolve is unbroken and our will is undeterred. Nothing will stop us in our mission to make America great again,” Trump told attendees on Wednesday.
At the rally, Trump attacked Vice President Kamala Harris and her record.
Harris “is now being given a personality makeover,” Trump said.
“Four weeks ago she was considered the worst — the worst vice president in history,” he claimed. “And all of a sudden she’s the new Margaret Thatcher.”
He claimed that Harris’ crime policies were politically motivated.
“She’s a ‘defund the police’ radical trying to pass herself off as a tough on crime prosecutor,” he said. “She wasn’t tough on crime. She’s only tough on guys like me, because they want to go after their political opponents.”
RELATED STORY | Trump falsely questions whether Harris is Black during panel with Black journalists
Trump went into Wednesday’s rally following a controversial appearance at the annual convention of the National Association of Black Journalists earlier in the day, at which he falsely questioned whether Harris was Black.
“She was only promoting Indian heritage. I didn’t know she was Black until a number of years ago when she happened to turn Black and now she wants to be known as Black,” Trump said during the panel, after being asked if he agreed with other Republicans’ comments that Harris is a “DEI hire.”
“Is she Indian or is she Black?” Trump continued, “I respect either one but she obviously doesn’t because she was Indian all the way and then all of a sudden she made a turn and she became a Black person.”
His comments drew immediate criticism from the Harris campaign and from the White House.
“The hostility Donald Trump showed on stage today is the same hostility he has shown throughout his life, throughout his term in office, and throughout his campaign for president as he seeks to regain power and inflict his harmful Project 2025 agenda on the American people,” the Harris campaign said in a statement.
