Former US President Donald Trump, in the running for the upcoming presidential polls, on Wednesday held his first outdoor rally since last month’s assassination attempt. He addressed the audience from behind bulletproof panes, his speech focused on national security. The rally was held in North Carolina.
A Trump rally in Pennsylvania last month was attacked by a sniper, who shot at the former President and left him with an ear injury. One participant was killed, while two others were injured. Following this, the Secret Service advised Trump to only hold indoor rallies. Last week, however, the Secret Service said it would use bulletproof glass to protect him during outdoor rallies, The Guardian reported.
The North Carolina rally has been described as Trump's counter-programming to the week of the star-studded Democratic National Convention in Chicago.
At the rally, held at North Carolina Aviation Museum & Hall of Fame, the protection cover of the bulletproof panes was bolstered by storage containers stacked around the perimeter to create an enclosure and block sight lines. Snipers were also positioned on rooftops of the venue, where "old aircraft were sitting behind the podium and a large American flag was suspended from cranes", NPR reported.
Trump’s speech featured a series of well-established Make America Great Again (MAGA) talking points on Nato, Afghanistan and Russia, and attacks on his Democratic opponent, Kamala Harris. Trump blamed President Joe Biden and Vice-President Kamala Harris for the deadly Afghanistan withdrawal and wars in Ukraine and the Middle East. According to a report in The Guardian, Trump claimed that Russia’s war in Ukraine would not have happened had he been in office rather than Biden in 2022.
Speaking about Harris, he said she was “the most radical left person ever to run for high political office in our country". He called her “Comrade Kamala”, and said she would destroy the country if she is elected to the White House.
Although Trump has admitted that the race has tightened since Biden’s withdrawal, his aides are said to be confident that Harris remains relatively unknown to many voters. They believe that by emphasising her statements and positions from previous campaigns, they can swing voters once her initial popularity wanes, reported AP.