GRAND RAPIDS, Michigan — One day before President Joe Biden announced he would no longer seek reelection this November, supporters of former President Donald Trump were unconcerned about the top of the Democratic ticket because they were confident in Trump's electoral chances regardless.
As the Trump campaign, the Republican National Committee , and downballot teams reconsider their strategies for the next 3 1/2 months, depending on whether Vice President Kamala Harris becomes the new nominee, some of the thousands of Trump supporters who descended on downtown Grand Rapids, Michigan, for Trump's first post-assassination attempt rally on Saturday downplayed the importance of his opponent.
Republicans, such as Diallo Wright of Grand Rapids, quipped that Democrats, at the very least, needed “anyone younger than” Biden.
“I’m not gonna lie, I’d say a random old grandma,” Dino Daveon, another Grand Rapids resident, told the Washington Examiner when asked who should replace Biden. “They’re sweet and nice and gotta be better than Biden, I guess.”
However, other Republicans, including Justin, who declined to provide his last name, contended Democrats should not have pushed out Biden.
“The people voted for Joe Biden,” the Lapeer resident told the Washington Examiner. “Democracy is you’ve got to go with the people. I mean, it’s up to the people, you know?”
Although Harris could motivate younger Democrats and minority voters, particularly black women, should she become the nominee, Republicans projected confidence based on her record before and after she became synonymous with the Biden administration.
When pressed on how Harris could upend their strategy, Trump campaign aides pointed the Washington Examiner to a statement from co-campaign managers Chris LaCivita and Susie Wiles from earlier Sunday.
"Kamala Harris is just as much of [a] joke as Biden," the pair wrote. "Harris will be even worse for the people of our nation than Joe Biden. Harris has been the enabler in chief for Crooked Joe this entire time. They own each other’s records, and there is no distance between the two. Harris must defend the failed Biden administration and her liberal, weak-on- crime record in CA."
At the same time, Trump has proposed that Fox News host his debate with the Democratic nominee and not ABC, an indication he may be worried about how to handle a head-to-head with Harris.
During the Grand Rapids rally, Trump polled the crowd on whom they would prefer to be the Democratic nominee, with the audience reacting more to Biden than Harris.
“You have a terrible governor here who did a terrible job," he said, referring to Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D-MI). "I’d like to run against her.”
Trump and Republican vice presidential nominee J.D. Vance ratcheted up their criticism of Harris during the event at Van Andel Arena amid speculation she could replace Biden, a trend that was also evident during last week’s Republican National Convention in Milwaukee.
“I call her laughin’ Kamala,” Trump said on Saturday. “You ever watch her laugh? She’s crazy. You can tell a lot by a laugh. No, she’s crazy. She’s nuts. She’s not as crazy as Nancy Pelosi. Crazy Nancy.”
"Kamala Harris said something to the effect of that I have no loyalty to this country," Vance added. "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?"
During the GOP convention, Rep. Byron Donalds (R-FL) underscored that it did not "matter" who the Democratic nominee is “because their agenda will remain the same.”
“Do you think that the note card in Joe Biden's pocket is any different than what Elizabeth Warren says on a daily basis?” Donalds told the Florida delegation breakfast last Friday of the Massachusetts senator. "Do you really think that Kamala Harris and Bernie Sanders are different in terms of where they want to take the United States of America? When she was in the Senate, she co-sponsored his crazy ' Medicare for All .' She was a co-sponsor of the Green New Deal ."
“ Gavin Newsom ? Are you kidding me?” he said. “That guy’s the worst governor in the country. There is a reason why people are leaving California in droves.”
Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL), too, pressured Biden to step down as president, not only as the Democratic nominee.
“I think the question is, if he’s not going to be their nominee because he’s not up to it, how can he be our president for the next six months?” Rubio told reporters after the same breakfast. “They’re going to remove this nominee, they’ve got to remove the president. That’s really bad for our country. But look, they’re all responsible because there’s this conspiracy of lies that they’ve sort of deliberately hidden his deterioration from the American public until they could no longer do it.”
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Biden announced his decision not to seek reelection in a letter on Sunday, endorsing Harris in a separate social media post shortly afterward. Harris responded with her own statement and immediately started fundraising for her campaign.
“I am honored to have the president’s endorsement, and my intention is to earn and win this nomination,” she wrote. “I will do everything in my power to unite the Democratic Party — and unite our nation — to defeat Donald Trump and his extreme Project 2025 agenda. We have 107 days until Election Day. Together, we will fight. And together, we will win.”
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