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Ex-President Trump in Grand Rapids
In the midst of speculation as to who might replace President Joe Biden in the 2024 race, ex-President Donald Trump trashed Gov. Gretchen Whitmer at a Grand Rapids rally Saturday night, saying he'd be happy to run against her.
"You have a terrible governor here, who did a terrible job...I'd like to run against her."
He said Whitmer appeared to be one of 20 people mentioned as a possible candidate to replace Biden. To date, despite pressure inside the party to step aside, Biden has insisted he's staying in the race.
Trump said the "Democratic party bosses are frantically trying to overthrow the results of their own parties primaries to dump crooked Joe Biden from the ballot. Couldn't happen to a nicer guy."
Whitmer and Trump bumped heads during the pandemic, and both have little good to say about one another.
Trump, who vowed to be a unifying force at the Republican National Convention after being shot, sounded anything but a bipartisan uniter, trashing the Democrats, Joe Biden, Whitmer and media.
"The Democrat party is not the party of democracy," he said. "They're really the enemies of democracy, the parties of corrupt insiders like Whitmer, special interests and the failed political class...Under our leadership the Republican Party is now the party of the people, we're the party of hard working Americans of every race religion, color and creed."
It's the first appearance for Trump since he was shot and the first one with Sen. J.D. Vance since he selected him as his running mate.