Sawt Falasteen - Trump holds first post-shooting rally, Biden comes under pressure to quit

As Trump prepared to descend on battleground Michigan to stump with his vice presidential running mate J.D. Vance for the first time, Biden loyalists continued to defend the embattled president.

"I'm all in," Michigan Senator Debbie Stabenow said in a call Saturday with reporters ahead of the Republicans' rally in her state.

She predicted that Trump and Vance would "try to rewrite history and pretend to care about working people," but then added dismissively, "Give me a break."

The president and his team have remained publicly adamant about his plans to continue campaigning -- a spokesman said Saturday that Biden would be back on the trail "next week" -- though some reports suggest discussions have begun in his inner circle about how exactly he might step aside.

Pressure has become intense, with a growing number of senior Democratic lawmakers and donors warning the 81-year-president that a Biden-led ticket could cost not only control of the White House but Congress as well.

There has been massive speculation over who could replace Biden. As vice president, Kamala Harris appears best-positioned to do so.

Senator Elizabeth Warren, a leading progressive who sought the party's presidential nod in 2020, gave Harris a boost Saturday without turning her back on the president.

"Joe Biden is our nominee," she said on MSNBC. "He has a really big decision to make.

"But what gives me a lot of hope right now is that if President Biden decides to step back, we have Vice President Kamala Harris, who is ready to step up, to unite the party, to take on Donald Trump, and to win in November."

- Awaiting 'green light' -

Some Democrats, however, fear that such a late switch from Biden could trigger chaos, dooming the party.

Michael Tyler, the Biden-Harris communications director, insisted Saturday in the briefing call with Stabenow that the president would be back on the campaign trail "as soon as we have a green light."

Team Trump for its part is effervescent after an exceptional streak of political good luck -- from favorable court rulings to Biden's disastrous debate and even to the attempt on Trump's life that he used to galvanize his base.

The 78-year-old candidate meanwhile used the just-ended Republican National Convention to demonstrate absolute control over the party, firing up supporters to a rare pitch.

In a long string of posts on X late Friday, Biden slammed a series of points Trump made in his convention speech: "He bragged about getting along with dictators," Biden said in one post. "That's because Trump wants to be a dictator. He said so himself."

As of late Friday, dozens of the most ardent Trump supporters began lining up outside Van Andel Arena in Grand Rapids, Michigan for the Saturday rally at 5:00 pm (2100 GMT). By morning, hundreds waited in line amid jubilant chants of "USA! USA!"

Edward Young, 64, preparing for his 81st Trump rally, was wearing a T-shirt showing the already iconic photo of Trump pumping his fist immediately after being shot.

"They have turned him into a martyr and left him alive," he said, adding, "Now he's more powerful than ever."

The rally will represent a moment remarkable by any measure, with Trump striding back on stage exactly one week since a 20-year-old gunman on a Pennsylvania rooftop attempted to kill him.

"I had God on my side," he told the convention Thursday.

- Eyes on security -

Just as Trump's convention address shifted quickly from a plea for unity to harsh attacks on the Biden administration, he seems certain to assail Biden and Harris on Saturday over illegal immigration, inflation, crime, the wars in Ukraine and Gaza, China policy and oil drilling.

All eyes, however, will be on the security posture, especially given questions over Secret Service lapses at the Pennsylvania rally.

Trump will speak inside an enclosed 12,000-capacity sports facility that allows more complete control of the perimeter. Security nevertheless is expected to be extra tight.

It will be Trump's debut campaign appearance with Vance, a US senator from Ohio who at age 39 could appeal to younger voters.

And Vance's blue-collar connection could help Trump, a billionaire businessman, win over critical swing states like Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.

K.AbuDahab--SF-PST