Trump redirects attacks to Harris in first rally since Biden dropped out of 2024 race

July 24 (UPI) -- Former President Donald Trump held his first rally since President Joe Biden announced he was dropping out of the 2024 race, and redirected his attention and attacks to Vice President Kamala Harris .

During Wednesday's North Carolina rally in Charlotte, held just hours before Biden addressed the nation on his decision to withdraw, Trump called Harris "the same as Biden but much more radical."

"So now we have a new victim to defeat: Lyin' Kamala Harris," Trump told the crowd , as he called her "the most incompetent and far-left vice president in American history."

While Trump stuck to his usual campaign rally rhetoric during his 90-minute speech, he targeted Harris instead of Biden over inflation, crime and the U.S.-Mexico border.

"Kamala's deadly destruction of America's borders is completely and totally disqualifying," Trump said. "She shouldn't be allowed to run for president with what she's done."

Trump, who survived an assassination attempt on July 13, admitted Wednesday that he has abandoned his softer side, which was on display at the Republican National Convention.

"You know, I was supposed to be nice. They say something happened to me when I got shot, I became nice," Trump said. "When you're dealing with these people -- they're very dangerous people -- when you're dealing with them, you can't be too nice. You really can't be. So if you don't mind, I'm not going to be nice."

Trump targeted Harris' work as San Francisco's district attorney and accused her of not being tough enough on crime.

"San Francisco, 20 years ago, was the greatest city in our country," Trump said. "Today, it's not a livable city."

Earlier Wednesday, Harris attacked Trump during a speech in Indiana where she told the members of the historically Black sorority Zeta Phi Beta that Trump would "return America to a dark past."

On Tuesday, at a rally in Wisconsin, Harris compared Trump to the "predators," "fraudsters" and "cheaters" she prosecuted in California, saying she "knows Donald Trump's type."