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Trump And Vance In Michigan For First Joint Rally; 35 Democratic Lawmakers Now Urging Biden To Exit Race; Trump Holds First Rally Since Assassination Attempt; Trump, J.D. Vance Hold First Rally Together Since Nomination. Aired 5-6p ET
Aired July 20, 2024 - 17:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[17:01:10]
JESSICA DEAN, CNN ANCHOR: You're in the CNN NEWSROOM.
Hi, everyone. I'm Jessica Dean in New York.
Just two days after former president Donald Trump and his new running mate, J.D. Vance formally accepted the GOP nomination, they're hitting the campaign trail together for the first time.
This will also be Trump's first rally since last Saturday's assassination attempt in Pennsylvania. That shooting leading to changes at tonight's rally.
CNN's Kristen Holmes is live for us in Grand Rapids, Michigan where that rally is going on now.
Kristen, what's it like on the ground
KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well Jessica we started seeing some of the families streaming out (INAUDIBLE) expect Donald Trump on the state at any moment. We actually heard from J.D. Vance earlier for the first time
We expect Donald Trump on the stage at any moment, we actually heard from J.D. Vance or layer, the first time he went to a campaign event, started talking to the people as the vice-presidential nominee. Here's what he said.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. J.D. VANCE (R-OH), VICE PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: President Trump in other words, wants to build a country that actually works for the citizens of this country once again.
He did it for four years. He did it so successfully for four years. We've never -- think about this, my friends, we have never had an election where you have four years of one guy and four years of the other guy.
And who could possibly reject the idea that four years of President Trump has been a hell of a lot better than four years of Joe Biden, right.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: So obviously, their consistent messaging with former President Trump was continuing to say, weren't you better off under my administration.
Now, as for how it is ground, I cannot not tell you how many people have packed into this arena. There are thousands of people, many of them told us outside, they were here to prove a point after that Butler, Pennsylvania rally.
It is the first time that Donald Trump has held a rally since then. Obviously one big difference back at this one is inside, but that is not the only security measure. There are a number of changes that we have seen.
One, the streets around this arena are closed down, something you almost never see during these Trump rallies because I've attended many.
We know there are extra Secret Service agents on the ground, extra Secret Service agents traveling with him. He has a bigger footprint, meaning a bigger motorcade. He's also had state police, including aerial security, talking about helicopters.
We also know there is more law enforcement on the ground than we have seen at previous rallies after that shooting. Secret Service requested 50 to 60 more local officers. So obviously they have really beefed-up security.
Now what's happening right now is that Donald Trump is backstage with J.D. Vance. They're sitting down for their first joint interview. Then they will come take the stage.
And Jessica, what we're looking for is what they actually look like as a team. This is the first time we're really seeing the top of the ticket on the campaign trail. What is -- what is their chemistry like?
One of the things that Donald Trump liked about J.D. Vance is that they got along so well. Well none of the American people have really seen that until tonight. So obviously it'll be interesting to see their dynamic as we head into this last four months of the campaign.
DEAN: Yes. And we'll be keeping an eye on that. Kristen Holmes in Michigan, thanks so much.
We're going to plan to take that rally live when the former president comes on the stage. So we'll keep an eye on that for you.
On the Democratic side, 35 Democratic lawmakers are now calling on the president to suspend his campaign. A source close to President Biden tells CNN he's quote, "seething at former speaker Nancy Pelosi" as he faces a new round of defections.
Some Democrats believe new -- those new calls came after Pelosi warned Biden he could lose in November and take the House with him.
CNN's Priscilla Alvarez joining us live from Rehoboth Beach, Delaware where the president is recovering from COVID-19.
[17:04:52]
DEAN: And Priscilla, you're learning about how some influential Democrats are backing Biden as he faces down this pressure from within his own party. What more can you tell us?
PRISCILLA ALVAREZ, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Yes, backing on a very important issue and that is money and donors.
What we're learning from sources is that former President Bill Clinton and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton have been privately urging donors to continue to donate. Now, one source describing the couple as deferential to the president's decision; another source saying they're deferential to the process.
In other words, they want or believe that donors should continue to support President Biden as long as he is the presumptive Democratic nominee.
Now, of course this it comes against headwinds for this Biden campaign. They have struggled with donors, some of whom have been holding back their big dollar checks over concerns about the president's candidacy. Some sources saying that it has become increasingly difficult to get donors to back this campaign because there are just so many questions circling whether or not the president remains in the race.
The campaign, however, has repeatedly said on the airwaves and in statements that the president is going to stay in the race. Hitting the airwaves yesterday, Biden campaign chair Jen O'Malley Dillon acknowledging that it has been in a tough few weeks, a challenging time, and there has been some erosion of support. But that that essentially the president is going to stay in this race.
So the president, while he is here and he is self-isolating and while his symptoms are improving is certainly still grappling with a party that is not entirely behind him.
Democratic lawmakers are still putting out letters today about the president stepping aside. We anticipate that could continue over the next few days.
So certainly, this remains a challenging time, even though the campaign has multiple -- on multiple occasions, tried to calm the nerves among allies, donors, and lawmakers.
So we are still in a bit of an uncertain period, even though some of the president's most loyal aides maintain that the president is dug in on staying in the race.
DEAN: All right. Priscilla Alvarez for us there in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware. Thank you for that reporting. And joining me now, CNN senior political commentator and former special assistant to President George W. Bush, Scott Jennings and CNN senior political commentator and Democratic strategist and former aide to President Bill Clinton, Paul Begala.
Paul, I want to start first with you just because we do have that new reporting that Priscilla was just outlining about those sources telling CNN that the Clintons, both of them are privately telling donors to continue donating and supporting President Biden.
This as we're getting reporting about House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and other prominent Democrats who are -- who are trying to convince him to step aside.
I'm just curious what you make of all of those dynamics together.
PAUL BEGALA, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Well, you know, I think President Clinton is -- I don't talk about private conversations that I may or may not have had with President Clinton. I can tell you though there's not an inch of daylight between President Clinton and President Biden.
President Clinton -- I get the strong sense that he's all-in for Joe Biden. Now that is apparently not where Speaker Emerita Pelosi is. And I have to say President Biden has a lot of impressive accomplishments. I don't think he'd have gotten any of them without Nancy Pelosi.
So the notion that somehow she has betrayed him it's not true. She is a great Democratic, this is the finest legislative leader in all of American history.
And parties exist to win. They don't exist to be a family. They're not religion, they're not your home. They have one purpose. And that is to win.
And when Democrats believe that you don't help them win they're going to cut you loose. It is like, you know, Mr. Trump is fond of quoting Hannibal Lecter. Let me quote another fictional character, the late great Hyman Roth, the gangster in "The Godfather" who assisted, Michael Corleone.
He says, this is the business we've chosen and this is the business Joe Biden has chosen. It's pitiless business. And he has no -- I think no reason to feel betrayed at all.
DEAN: And yet there is reporting that he does feel betrayed by these allies, you know, which is just again, an interesting dynamic.
Scott, Trump's new running mate, Senator J.D. Vance tweeted today, arguing if Biden is being called to step aside as the nominee, that he also needs to resign, which I would think is kind of what we're going to hear more and more of from the Republican side.
Do you think this validates some Democratic? concerns that calling on Biden to suspend his campaign is just further weakening him.
SCOTT JENNINGS, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Well, I think what Vance is arguing is a completely legitimate point.
I started making this point on the night of the debate when people immediately started wondering, can he continue? It's not really a campaign question.
[17:09:47]
JENNINGS: If you don't think he can continue to campaign and you don't think he's fit to serve in January, it is legitimate to ask is he fit to serve as commander in chief today.
With a lot of things going on in the world, a lot of things going on in the country, and all the reporting has raised a lot of questions about what's going on in the White House, who's in control, how does it operate on a daily basis?
So I think Vance is raising a good question and yes, I think all these Democrats who are coming out against Joe Biden, I think they're trying to, as Paul pointed out, they're part of a party and they wanted to win an election, but somebody needs to ask them, are you satisfied that Joe Biden is fit to serve today? Because I think if they were being honest, a lot of them might say I'm not so sure.
DEAN: Paul, what do you think about all that.
BEGALA: Yes. I actually talked to him and I love Scott. These are two very different things. I haven't encountered anybody, I've actually been talking to hundreds of people (INAUDIBLE), members of the Senate, members of House. No one has said to me they think he's unfit to conduct the duties of the presidency. No one.
What they say is, I'm worried he's going to lose, right? It's all about polling and about running for office and nothing to do with his fitness to serve as president.
They just think he's a drag on the ticket now. And I have to say the Republican Convention has actually energizes Democrats. Every -- the first time since the debate, first time in three weeks, the Democrats were fired up because they watched that speech to a woman and a man.
I was there in Texas saying well, we can beat this guy. I mean he was terrible. You talk about fitness to lead. I mean, if I gave a speech like that, my wife would throw a net over me and they'd haul me off. It was pathetic that they had -- the convention had -- it was great. The convention was great except for the vice-president candidate speech and the presidential candidate speak. But the former stripper was great and the former rocker was great, and the former wrestler was great, the former wife beater, I wouldn't have put him up there, but he did a good job.
It was Mr. Trump who tanked the whole thing. And it has emboldened Democrats. I got to tell you, Scott, it's been a shot in the arm for my party at a time when we needed it.
(CROSSTALK)
DEAN: And Scott --
JENNINGS: Paul, Paul --
DEAN: Go ahead.
JENNINGS: -- the Republican Party -- hold on. Hold on. The Republican Party is now the party of fun. I can see how much this angers you and upsets you. You're welcome to come, if you want.
BEGALA: Fun?
(CROSSTALK)
JENNINGS: And Donald Trump's speech was so bad that the minute that it ended, the most endangered Senate Democratic incumbent in the country, Jon Tester of Montana, put out a statement demanding that Joe Biden get out of the race. That's how bad it was.
And the next day, even more Democrats came out, came out against Joe Biden. So yes, it was -- I'm sure it was so terrible that Democrats were running for the hills.
BEGALA: Because they think Trump -- they think Trump is really vulnerable. They think they can beat Trump. And they're right. Kamala Harris would beat Trump. Gretchen Whitmer would beat Trump. JB Pritzker would beat Trump. Andy Beshear would beat Trump. Josh Shapiro would beat Trump. Wes Moore would beat Trump.
I can go on. The guy's a stone loser. And I think that's why Democrats are looking for somebody who perhaps can carry the fight a little more aggressively.
DEAN: Scott, I want to look ahead to this rally that we're keeping an eye on. We are going to plan just for everyone's planning purposes to take that live when -- when former President Trump takes the stage.
But I'm thinking about the Independent voters in Michigan that have maybe voted for Trump and then voted for Biden. And now maybe don't know who they're going to vote for this time around.
I understand this rally is full of a really energized base and that is clear. But you need those swing voters to help probably get you over the line in a state that's probably going to be won on the margins.
What can he say to them or J.D. Vance that can appeal do you think to those types of voters?
JENNINGS: Well, you need a couple of different things. You need swing voters, that's absolutely true. And if you have the capability, you need to change the composition of the electorate.
I have no doubt that in that crowd today there are swing voters and there are also people who are completely disconnected from our civic life. People who rarely vote, if ever, maybe even people who registered to vote for the first time today. That is Trump's great ability in this campaign to reach into a pool of
voters that Joe Biden really cannot get or communicate with and bring them in. It's not actually dissimilar to what Barack Obama was able to do in 2008. He had access to people that no one else could touch. They were energized by him and him alone.
So I think it's actually two groups. And here's what he's going to tell them. You have an opportunity here to compare my presidency and how you felt in terms of your own personal finances and personal security. And you can compare that to Joe Bidens.
And when you look at all the polling right now, whether you're a swing voter, or whether you're not, most people agree Donald Trump was a better president than Joe Biden. He has a better job approval for his presidency today when you ask people to compare it to Joe Biden.
So it's actually not all that complicated. Were you better off under me or are you better off under him? And if that's the question they convey, I think the answer is going to lead them to a victory in Michigan and a lot of other states too.
DEAN: And Paul, I want to get your take on this, but we've got to squeeze in a quick break. Stay with us. Let's take a quick break and we'll be right back.
BEGALA: Sure.
[17:14:39]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
DEAN: Now we are keeping our eye on the rally with former president Trump, his first since the attempted assassination last weekend. We will keep our eye on that.
In the meantime, I'm very happy we to have with us Scott Jennings and Paul Begala. Thanks for sticking around during that commercial break. Scott, you were just -- I had just asked you about these kind of independent or swing voters.
And Paul, I wanted to get your thoughts on that and I'm thinking about a suburban mom outside of Philadelphia.
BEGALA: Right.
[17:19:47]
DEAN: Those are the kind of, you know, voters that Joe Biden was able to coalesce last time. what do you think they're thinking as they watch this all kind play out?
BEGALA: Yes, this is taken as a freak show. That there is no home for them there. What if Donald Trump -- here's a thought exercise. What if Donald Trump had put Nikki Haley on the ticket? Great appeal to those voters, ok. I still don't agree with her on the issues, but she has great appeal
to them. She or Chris christie, he's from a very blue state, New Jersey. He carried it twice, second time in a landslide. They could have reached out to those voters. They don't want them.
You know, Mr. Trump -- this is amazing. He's now got to lead in all the polls but it's because Biden has dropped not because Trump has moved up.
He survived a week ago and we thank God for this. He survived an assassination attempt a week ago and he hasn't gained a point.
Reagan went to 73, right, when he got shot. And again, thank God Reagan survive. Thank God, Mr. Trumps survived. But he's gotten no sympathy, no -- you know, why?
Because the country doesn't want him. Mr. Trump has never in his entire career commanded the support of the majority of American people. The country just doesn't want them. And maybe that's why the pressure is so high on Joe Biden.
I will note that the powerful Democratic Senator Menendez was convicted of 16 felonies this week. And all the Democrats say let's expel him. Mr. Trump is convicted of 34 four felonies. All the Republicans say,
let's elect him. I think that says something to those suburban voters.
DEAN: And Scott, what -- looking ahead to how this all continues to play out going off of what Paul is talking about there about the polling, how this has kind of remained a steady race. Trump has -- his polling is staying the same and Bidens is dropping. So that's where he's getting these bigger lead.
What do you think that says that Trump's not been able to push those numbers up?
JENNINGS: Well, I don't think either of them are ever going to be able to command any kind of a massive national landslide. It just doesn't work that way anymore and it's not going to work that way for either one of them.
Donald Trump's kind of a 50-50 guy, about half the country loves him and about half the country doesn't as Paul pointed out. And so I think the polling is always going to exist in a narrow band for him.
But that's not how we elect the president. We elect the president in the electoral college. And right now, Donald Trump leads in about 14 of the top five swing states.
I mean, you look at the map we've got states on the map and haven't -- I ran George W. Bush's campaign in 2004 in New Mexico. We have not won -- Republicans have not won New Mexico in 20 years. It's now on the map.
Where Paul lives in Virginia, it's on the map. New Jersey, Minnesota, look around. The map is getting bigger and whether Trump's going up or Biden's going down, I can read a map and I know the net result of it.
And right now the net result is if Joe Biden's a candidate, it's going to be an electoral college landslide. And that's how we elect the president.
DEAN: And Scott, if -- if you know, it seems to bear out in the polling that not -- no one in America is thrilled with either of their -- very few people in America are thrilled with either of their choices that they would like fresh people on both sides.
If the Democrats, and obviously there's many steps from A to Z here. But if the Democrats -- I'm being told the rally is starting, so hold that thought. I'll be -- we're going to dip into this rally. And hear what the former president is saying.
(INTERRUPTED BY A LIVE EVENT)
DONALD TRUMP (R), FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT & 2024 PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: -- that worked so hard and perhaps weren't treated like they should have been, but they were treated that way four years ago, I can tell you that.
So we're going to get it back -- bigger, better, stronger than ever before. Thank you very much. This is some thrill.
I'm thrilled to be back in the great state of Michigan with thousands and thousands -- and I mean lots of thousands up here. This is a hell of an arena. This is a hell of an arena.
Like you are the hard-working patriots that we love. You know, they have crowds of people outside, you're not even going to believe it. They go blocks and blocks. But let's forget about them right? Let's forget about them.
Let me begin this evening with a very special thanks to Americans nationwide including all of you here today for your extraordinary outpouring of love and support in the wake of the horrific last Saturday event.
Now, when you think of it, it was exactly one week ago today, almost to the hour, even to the minute.
Incredible. What a day it was. As I said earlier this week, I stand before you only by the grace of Almighty God, that's true.
I shouldn't be here. I shouldn't be here.
[17:24:53]
TRUMP: Maybe J.D. or somebody else would be here, but I shouldn't be here right now. But something very -- something very special happened. Let's face it. Something happened.
I want to thank Butler Memorial Hospital in Pennsylvania for the incredible job they did and service they gave. And all of the great citizens of Butler, Pennsylvania and the surrounding area and everyone else for the job they did and the love that they showed us all.
It was incredible actually. What time that was. What a time that was. Nobody has seen anything like it, and hopefully they never will again. And they had cameras blazing.
I guess it was different in that way too, because we're right in the middle of all those -- look at all the news back there and they were all blazing. They were -- they were going.
No, no. No, they covered it fairly. They couldn't believe what they were seeing either. They did, you did cover it fairly.
Let me also thank Congressman Ronny Jackson from Texas, you know, Congressman Ronny Jackson for the care and treatment he gave me as an outstanding doctor which he is really an amazing. Where is Ronny? Doc Ronny is here some place.
Thank you, Ronny. Thank you very much. Great doctor. He was a great admiral, a great doctor. He was a White House doctor for Bush, Obama and a guy named Trump.
And they said, who was the healthiest of the three? He said not even a question, Trump. And I said, I love that guy. I love that guy.
When he said that, that was my doctor, even if he's the congressman now, that was my doctor. But he's been a great congressman. Thank you very much, Ronny, for everything. We appreciate it. Ronny Jackson.
We continue to pray for the recovery of the two citizens who were wounded in that evil attack -- David Dutch and James Copenhaver, two really incredible people. We remain in contact and send our deepest respect to the families of Corey. As you know, Corey Comperatore was the brave firefighter who died, funeral yesterday.
Shielded his wife and daughters from bullets. He shielded them from the bullets of this -- this horrendous person. Corey was a hero and we will carry his memory in our hearts for all time. Great hero.
That's great. And he was a big Trumper. And we will never forget him, right?
We're all together. We're all together. This has never been anything like what you witnessed the other day with the convention.
I don't think there's ever been a convention where there was such unity and love and even the -- now I'll say just for a second, the fake news even said it that way. I want to be nice. But the fake news reported it correctly. That was -- there's never been such unity.
And everybody did a great job and the speeches and everything. It was just an incredible event. And I'll tell you what Milwaukee was a fantastic place. This was a beautiful arena. And they did a really great job.
And Wisconsin is going to vote for us because we spent $250 million. And when they go into the voting booth, they're going to say we love this guy Trump. He gave us $250 million with jobs. They're going to vote. Wisconsin's a very important state, as we know.
But they really did. Wisconsin did a great job. Milwaukee, they did a great job and the arena was fantastic and it was just love.
It was like a big, beautiful four-day love fest. There was no -- there was no fight. You know, there was no fight, no screams, no shouting know. No, get that guy off the platform. And in case there was we had the Hulkster with us right?
How good was the Hulkster. And Kid Rock called he said I want to give -- you know, Kid Rock is big. He wanted to get down and he did an unbelievable job.
But all of them, everybody -- we had so many great people there. It was really an amazing thing to see. And it was really something. I don't think there's ever been -- a lot of people report. I think either party there's never been anything like it.
[17:29:47]
TRUMP: And now we have something coming up with (INAUDIBLE) to go for the convention and they have a couple of problems. Number one, they have no idea who the campaigner (ph) is. And neither do we.
That's a problem.
(LAUGHTER)
TRUMP: But we'll see. Hopefully, they get it worked out.
Sort of interesting, this guy goes and he gets the votes. And now they want to take it away. That's democracy. They talk about democracy.
(LAUGHTER)
TRUMP: Let's take it away from him!
But now we go forward as one movement and, really, we're doing a very -- we have a very special group of people, like the people here. You people built this country.
(CHEERING)
(APPLAUSE)
TRUMP: It's one movement. We're more united, determined --
(APPLAUSE)
TRUMP: -- than ever before. We've never been so determined.
Bad things happened (INAUDIBLE). We're not going to let them happen this time. Bad, bad things happen. We will never stop working to deliver a magnificent future for our people. And together we will fight, fight, fight! Right?
(CHEERING)
TRUMP: And we will win, win, win.
(CHEERING)
(CHANTING)
TRUMP: Thank you.
(CHANTING)
TRUMP: I like this place.
(CHEERING)
TRUMP: Ever walk into a place and you say, I sort of like this place?
(LAUGHTER)
TRUMP: Less than four months from now, we are going to win Michigan. We are going to take back the White House --
(CHEERING)
TRUMP: -- in a monumental landslide.
(CHEERING)
TRUMP: And with your help, we are going to Make America Great Again. Right? Right?
(CHEERING)
TRUMP: At our convention on -- just a little while ago in Milwaukee and Thursday, it was my tremendous honor to officially accept the Republican nomination for president of the United States.
(CHEERING)
TRUMP: And I used to say it in 2016, and I meant it 100 percent, but I mean it even more now because this country has gone wrong. We're a failing nation. We're really left a failing nation right now.
This will be the most important election in the history of our country. This is going to be the most important election. We cannot let it slip by. We cannot let people cheat. We cannot let this slip by, or we're not going to have a country.
Because I do have other things I could be doing. It would be a lot easier. Although, I'd rather be with you than sitting some gorgeous beach watching boring waves coming - coming in.
(CHEERING)
TRUMP: No, I'd rather -- I would ride with it. Actually, I would. I think that's one of the reasons we've been so successful together. You know I mean that, too.
But we're going to make our country more successful than ever before. And even as we gather this evening, we will -- and take a look at, still the Democratic nominee we -- we're going to find out shortly, maybe. I don't know what.
But let's do this. Let's do a poll. I loved doing polls, right? Like I do a poll, I do lots of polls, like, do you like Make America Great Again or do you like America First or do you like them both? I like them both, right?
(CHEERING)
TRUMP: Let's do a poll on candidates running. So I'll go -- I'll go -- we're going to do a poll on a few candidates. The press will like this because they won't have to pay for the poll.
(LAUGHTER)
TRUMP: You know, they do these crazy polls and they charge you $250.
And look, there's Mr. Wall (ph). This guy is the greatest guy.
(CHEERING)
TRUMP: This guy, he must have a lot of money because he's at so many different rallies.
(APPLAUSE)
TRUMP: And he was at the one that was a tough one, wasn't it? That was something. You were right up in the front there. You saw that. That was a thing.
We're going to do a poll and it's going to be a very nice poll and --
(LAUGHTER)
TRUMP: Right?
(LAUGHTER)
TRUMP: Who is your favorite candidate? Who would you like -- let's do it. Who would you most like to run against? Because, you know, you could say, who is the best candidate? We're saying who would you like?
We'll start with Kamala Harris. And then --
(BOOING)
TRUMP: And then we'll go -- and then we'll go to Crooked Joe Biden.
And then we could possibly discuss another.
So, who would you like to most run against if you're us, if we want to win? Ready? Kamala Harris? (BOOING)
TRUMP: Crooked Joe Biden.
(CHEERING)
TRUMP: All right. I don't think we have to go too much further.
(LAUGHTER)
TRUMP: Well, you have a terrible governor here. She did a terrible job.
(BOOING)
TRUMP: I'd like to run against her actually.
(CHEERING)
TRUMP: No, she is one of the funny that I mentioned.
She's the one that gave her husband full rights and title and interest to everything, but nobody else could do anything but her husband.
Her husband was sailing in the middle of your lake, your beautiful lake. He's out there sailing and everybody else had to be locked up, right?
(SHOUTING)
[17:35:09]
TRUMP: Her husband. But things like that that I mentioned during a campaign, little things like that.
You know, she's done a terrible job. But I hope -- I would be very happy with her.
At this very moment, Democrat Party bosses are franticly trying to overthrow the results of their own party's primaries to dump Crooked Joe Biden from the ballot. Couldn't happen to a nicer guy.
(LAUGHTER)
TRUMP: And as you're seeing, the Democrat Party is not the party of democracy. They're really the enemies of democracy. The party's so corrupt. Insiders like Whitmer, special interests and the failed political class, that's what they are.
Under our leadership, the Republican Party is now the party of the people. We're the party of hardworking Americans of every race, religion, color and creed.
(CHEERING)
TRUMP: We've become a very big party. We've become -- right fellas? You know what I'm talking about. I love you guys. We love you guys.
No, we've become -- we've become a very big party. We have increased in size. Nobody's ever -- honestly, in history, there's never been anything like this movement. And that may be in the history of the world.
But let's keep it down to the country for right now, because that's OK. But there's never been anything like MAGA.
When Biden says we have to stop MAGA, we will stop them. I said, he doesn't know what MAGA stands for. It stands for Make America Great Again.
(CHEERING)
TRUMP: How can you be against that?
(CHEERING)
TRUMP: How can you be against it?
(CHEERING)
TRUMP: And you know, the other side is going around trying to make me sound extreme, like I'm an extremist. I'm not. I'm a person with great common sense. I'm not an extremist at all.
(CHEERING)
TRUMP: Like some on the right, severe right, came up with this Project 25 and I don't even know -- I mean, some of them I know who they are, but they're very, very conservative.
Just like you have -- they're sort of the opposite of the radical left, OK? You have the radical left and you have the radical right. And they come up with this -- I don't know what the hell it is.
It's Project 25. He's involved in Project -- and then the read some of the things and they are extremely. I mean, seriously extreme. But I don't know anything about it. I don't want to know anything about it.
But what they do is misinformation and disinformation. And they keep saying he's a threat to democracy. I'm saying what the hell did I do for democracy? Last week, I took a bullet for democracy.
(CHEERING)
TRUMP: What did I do against democracy?
(CHEERING)
TRUMP: Crazy.
(CHEERING)
(CHANTING) TRUMP: Hello, Chris.
Here's our great campaign man.
Chris, are you having a good time?
Look at him. He's back there cool as a cucumber.
You know, so far, they are giving us great credit for the best-run campaign they've seen in years. Isn't that right?
(CHEERING)
TRUMP: Thank you, Susie.
Thank you, Chris.
Look how cool he is. Just sitting there. Thanks.
Try doing it with another candidate sometime?
(LAUGHTER)
TRUMP: That's great stuff, right? Anyway, thank you very much. Great job, Chris, Susie, the whole group. We have a great group of people. They love this country. They want to save the country.
That's what we're doing. With your vote in this election, the Trump- Vance administration -- by the way, I made the right, Becky, so glad. They we're all good. They're all good.
(CHEERING)
TRUMP: He's really -- he's really stepped up.
(APPLAUSE)
TRUMP: But the Trump-Vance administration will begin rapidly reversing every single Biden-Harris disaster starting on day one.
(CHEERING)
(APPLAUSE)
TRUMP: And when you vote for a Biden, you're probably voting indirectly for Harris anyway, whether you like it or not. Common sense is still common sense, right?
We will end the inflation nightmare that would have never had. We had no inflation.
See, there's another thing. Biden always goes, I inherited 9 percent inflation. And even the radical left reporters up there -- look all of them, wow, they have a lot.
(BOOING) TRUMP: They have a lot of them.
(BOOING)
TRUMP: They have a lot of them. Look at those cameras. I bet they'll start turning off as soon I start mentioning it. I'll say, the red light just went off.
No, but actually, the racial left reporters, of which there are quite a few. I can't believe it. I don't know why they'd have them. But the radical left report say, the guys, right?
You know, it wasn't until two years in that we became destroyed with inflation.
[17:40:02]
Inflation is a country buster. It's a class buster. It busts everything, low-income, middle-income, especially. And they get busted, busted. The country gets busted.
Look at Germany from centuries ago. Look at every country that's had inflation.
And we had, I believe, the greatest inflation in the history of our country. They don't even report it properly because they leave the worst numbers out.
They don't talk about interest rates that went to 10 percent, 11 percent, 12 percent. And you can't get the money. So what does that mean, 12 percent if you can't get the money? It means it's higher from 2 percent.
We will seal the border and we will stop this terrible invasion that's destroying our country.
(CHEERING)
(APPLAUSE0
TRUMP: We will crush migrant crime. We're going to crush migrant crime. Oh, we have a new form of crime now. It's called migrant crime.
The only good thing about these migrants coming in is they make our gang members and criminals look like the nicest people you've ever met.
(LAUGHTER)
TRUMP: These people are much tougher. They come from all over the world, not just from South America.
We're going to return law and order to our streets and restore patriotism to our schools.
(CHEERING) TRUMP: We gave you already the largest tax cut in the history of our country, larger than the Reagan cuts. But now we will give you an additional tax cut. A number of tax cuts that will make it.
(CHEERING)
TRUMP: We took in more money after the tax cuts than we did prior. We took in billions and billions of dollars more after the tax cuts that we did. We had the greatest economy in the history of our country. Everyone knows that.
We're going to slash regulations. That's what created all of those jobs and gave them bounce-back jobs. You know, they're called bounce- back jobs. After Covid, they bounced back.
Everybody knows that when you have something like Covid, which rarely happens, but when you have something like that, they're called bounce- back jobs.
And we're going to bring down energy prices very rapidly. It was energy that caused the problem and their stupidity.
(CHEERING)
TRUMP: And we're going to bring it down very quickly. Your energy bills will be cut in half. At least some sections, like in New England, I'll be able to cut their energy by 60 percent, 70 percent.
It's absolutely crazy what has happened with energy. We buy the oil from Venezuela. They used to be our enemy. I don't know. We buy from Venezuela. It's not really -- well, it's tar.
And you know, there's only one refinery in the world that can do it. It's very heavy, horrible stuff. It's garbage. It's tar you lifted. I said that's not oil. We want light, sweet crude.
We have the best oil. We had the best everything. We go to Venezuela, you know, where they refine it? In Houston, Texas. It's the only plant in the world that can refine that stuff.
So we go to Venezuela, we pay him a fortune. We take that dictatorship, we make the dictatorship wealthy. These people don't know what the hell they're doing. They're incompetent. They're grossly incompetent.
That biggest threat is because we have incompetence. That's the threat to democracy. It's a threat to our country. We haven't competent people leading our country. Grossly incompetent people.
(APPLAUSE)
(CHEERING)
TRUMP: America's enemies will fear us. The United States will again command the respect that it deserves. Viktor Orban, the very powerful leader of Hungary, said, when asked
what happened with the world, it's falling to pieces, there are wars all over. He said, bring back Trump and it will all end. It will all end. We'll have no problem in the world.
(CHEERING)
(APPLAUSE)
TRUMP: And something beautiful is going to happen because we will bring back the American dream. And it'll be bigger, better, and bolder than ever before.
(CHEERING)
(APPLAUSE)
TRUMP: Right?
(APPLAUSE)
TRUMP: And, most importantly, for the people of this great state -- you know, years ago, they gave me in Michigan the Man of the Year. That was long before I was a politician. I was a business guy. I did well. I liked the state.
But I don't know. I heard a Man of the Year, Michigan. I said that's cool. That's good. I'm going to make that trip. I didn't know why they we're giving it to me. Nothing, but they we're giving it to me for, I guess, the fact that I employed a lot of people. I did real well.
This is probably 14 years ago. And I came in and I said, why do you allow foreign countries like Mexico -- you know, Mexico's, like we think of them as friendly, but they haven't been too friendly lately.
How about when they asked Biden to meet, just to meet, they want $2 billion to meet. They wouldn't ask that. See, they wouldn't even ask me that because I'd say I will put 100 percent tariffs on everything you send into it our country if you even think about that.
(CHEERING)
TRUMP: They want $2 billion to meet. In other words, we won't meet with you unless you pay us $2 billion. And this is every single year they want $2 billion.
[17:45:06]
Well, you know, it works the opposite of that, the exact opposite. But you know, when you see the things that are happening to our country and all you have to do is know how to speak.
When I watched the way our border was handled, we had the best border, the safest border, the border that saved my life.
You know, I was pointing to an immigration border sign when I made this turn. And that thing went that way instead of that way. So I owe immigration my life. It's true.
(CHEERING)
(CHANTING)
DEAN: You are listening to former President Donald Trump at his first rally since the attack -- the assassination attempt on his life last Saturday and since he has formally been nominated by the Republican Party as their presidential nominee for this election.
I want to bring back in Scott Jennings and Paul Begala, who have been standing by with us.
It was interesting. We heard the former president talking about his experience during that assassination attempt. He thanks the doctors. He also talked about the convention last week. Very pleased with how that had gone on.
What I thought was really interesting was the way in which he immediately distanced himself from Project 2025, which was put together by the Heritage Foundation, and he effectively called them the radical right.
Scott, that's what he said is that there's the radical left, there's the radical right.
More than, we should note, 140 people in his administration helped put that together. So he is very familiar with the faces and the names and the brains who we're behind all of this.
But what do you make of him? Obviously, he's been trying to distance himself from that. But essentially calling them the radical right?
JENNINGS: Yes, he said what they we're putting together was, quote, "extreme." And so he made the clearest statement yet, right, from the podium that he does not embrace this agenda.
No matter how many times Democrats or Joe Biden or anybody else wants to tie it to him, he has himself, from his own mouth, said, this is a radical right. And what they're putting together is extreme.
The things I also heard in the speech that I thought we're excellent, when he said, "I took a bullet for democracy." Print, frame it, hang it in the Louve. That is an amazing line. And I think you're going to hear that for the rest of the election.
And you know, he's talking to voters out there. He's talking about inflation, immigration, crime, put patriotism back in our school, tax cuts, directly into my veins.
That's going to appeal to every suburban center-right conservative that's out there. So I think he's in rare form. I think they need to stop giving him prepared text and just let him go.
This is the Donald Trump that will sell and can win an election. DEAN: And, Paul, him saying this is extreme about -- about Project 2025. Do you think voters will believe him when, look, so many of the people behind that -- and I hear you, Scott, I hear what you're saying that he is saying it out loud, that he's rejecting it.
But why do you think voters will believe him or do you think voters will believe him, Paul?
BEGALA: They're not going to believe him for a second.
He is the master of misinformation. I don't want to use the l word, but he lives all the time. He is the master of misinformation. I don't want to use the "L" word but he lies all of the time.
It's Trump respiration. He inhales air and exhales lies.
This Project 2025, put together by Trump's staffers for Mr. Trump, it's his agenda. The heart of it is -- this is really frightening. The heart of it is a MAGA takeover of all the nonpartisan civil service folks to give them a purity test for MAGA lunacy.
So that the cancer researchers at NIH would have to be MAGA nutcases, that the rocket scientists at NASA would have to be MAGA extremist, so and the scientists at EPA would have to be.
By the way, Trump tried to sign this in as an executive order when he was still president. Joe Biden undid it. So we know he wants to do it. We know he tried to do it.
And by the way, on the matter of lies, he told a whopper right at the end there, Jessica. He has this thing. It's delusional. It's nutty. It's fictitious that he was named Man of the Year in Michigan.
OK, our Daniel Dale, a fact checker at CNN, has checked this again and again, again. I'm reading Daniel's piece here on my iPad. Nobody, Daniel writes, has ever been able to find any evidence that he was ever named Man of the Year in Michigan.
It just never happened. He's delusional. He needs help. Seriously. He -- he's really not a healthy man.
And I think that we need a little intervention here because Mr. Trump seems really out of his head.
DEAN: Scott, let me
(CROSSTALK)
JENNINGS: Let me -- let me -- let me say something else about that. The 2025 grift was really interesting to me. And I think there should speak to Paul's heart because he pioneered it.
He said, you've got people on the extreme right, you've got people on the extreme left. Donald Trump positioning himself squarely in the middle of the country. Positioning, triangulating yourself right to the middle. Brilliant. [17:50:12]
He's in general-election mode right now, coming out of the Republican National Convention. Paul knows about this. He won two elections on it.
(LAUGHTER)
JENNINGS: And it's what Trump is doing --
(CROSSTALK)
BEGALA: -- moderate while the Democrats --
(CROSSTALK)
JENNINGS: Hold on. Meanwhile, the Democrats right now are -- the party of democracy is, I guess, having a coup against the sitting president of the United States.
And meanwhile, Donald Trump's on national television, putting himself squarely as a moderate in the center of America. I mean, this is a good day for Donald Trump.
DEAN: Except, Scott, I will note, though, he surrounds himself --
(CROSSTALK)
DEAN: I just want to note, though, that he does welcome and surround himself by pretty extreme right figures and has embraced that, has a history of embracing that. And that's just the facts.
So I guess the question is, is he just saying this or is this actually something that he really wants to do? Is he actually rejecting this ideology because it's been a big part of his base for as long as he's been in policy --national politics?
JENNINGS: Here's what people don't want to accept. Mr. Trump, Donald Trump is not really an extreme conservative. He never has been. He was the least conservative person in the 2016 primary, and he beat all the conservatives.
He actually is -- I don't know what you call it, but what -- it's not a traditional conservative right out of the Heritage Foundation or right out of the mold of the -- he's not that. He's a center right, moderate, and maybe even not even center right on a lot of issues.
DEAN: Paul, I want to let you get in there. Go ahead.
BEGALA: Yes. Mr. Trump is the reason that Roe v. Wade was overturned. And since Roe was overturned, 14 states have enacted laws that are exactly what Mr. Trump and J.D. Vance, who is very extremist, even more extremist running mate, but no abortion, even in the case of rape or incest.
The American Medical Association did a study in January. That's seven months ago. They published a study that said, since Roe was overturned, 54,565 women have become pregnant by rape in the states that no longer allow abortion in the case of rape.
Now the rapes haven't stopped. They just stopped a study in January.
This is the most extreme position that one can have. Mr. Vance, his running mate -- you mentioned Al Gore and Bill Clinton. Clinton picked Gore because Gore was a moderate like Clinton. I suspect Mr. Trump picked Vance because Vance is an extremist like Mr. Trump.
Vance, he gave a speech at a high school in California, J.D. did, where he said women in violet marriages should remain in the marriage. OK. That's really, really extreme.
He -- he opposes abortion even in the case of rape, even in the case of incest. This is the most extreme element of American society that Mr. Trump has brought onto his ticket.
And believe me, voters are going to know about it.
DEAN: I mean, Scott, do you want to respond to that?
JENNINGS: Yes, I do. Because Donald Trump has made his position on abortion perfectly clear. It's the old Ronald Reagan position. He is pro-life. He believes in the three exceptions of rape, incest and life of the mother.
And he has said that that's what he's -- his policy preference should be. He supports in-vitro fertilization. He supports access to contraception. He supports a mainstream Republican view of pro-life issues that date -- that date back to Ronald Reagan.
And Donald Trump, whether it's J.D. Vance, the Heritage Foundation, or the man in the moon, is not going to subjugate himself to anyone else's views. He never has. And I suspect that he never will.
And you can try to -- look -- look what's happening. Everything that's being thrown at Donald Trump is coming from someone else. Oh, it's this think tank oh, it's this other person.
Listen to the words coming out of his mouth. He's saying things that appeal to huge swaths of the country. His positions are very, very moderate and mainstream on that.
DEAN: But, Scott, he also said, I was the one. And he was very proud. I was the one that killed Roe v. Wade. I mean, he -- he's kind of all over the place sometimes on where he wants to land. And I get that we're in a general election now.
But he's been very proud of that.
JENNINGS: But -- but Roe v. Wade going away via the Dobbs case does not end abortion in the United States of America. It's simply moves into the political process.
And no abortion laws are going to pass at the federal level, by the way, because the Congress won't do it. They've never had 60 votes in the Senate to do anything one way or the other.
And so the policy is going to be made at the states, just like it is on infinite other issues. States make policy and they enact policy. And that's the way the founders intended when they design the U.S. Constitution.
And Trump as a policy maker. And as the head of the Republican Party, has said, I'm pro-life and I believe in the three exceptions. My sense is just people will probably take their cues from him.
DEAN: And, Paul just before I let you all go, just generally, what we're talking about now is we're more generally trying to see Trump moderate in his words, right?
[17:55:07]
That the words he's saying out loud, he's trying to at least appeal to -- to try to moderate here. What do you make of the tone that we're hearing?
And also the fact that, in the end, it's actions that people believe. And do you expect to see actions that backup the tone that we're getting right?
BEGALA: Right. If you want to be moderate, you don't pick J.D. Vance. You know, we've had nine vice presidents exceed to the presidency in our history. That's a pretty high batting average.
So there's a real chance, maybe a 50-50 chance that Mr. Trump becomes president. And then there's some, whatever chance, that his vice president succeeds him. As has happened so many times.
So he -- he wants a man a heartbeat away from the presidency that has his same views on issues like abortion. Make no mistake about it.
Scott may want to put -- try to put lipstick on this hog, but Donald Trump is the reason that millions of American women, after 49 years under Roe v. Wade, have lost their rights.
And it's only going to continue. He's going to continue to stack the judiciary with these ultra, ultra right-wing lawyers and judges, who are going to take away your right to IVF, like they tried to do in Alabama, who are going to take away your right to contraception.
This Project 2025 wants to ban Mifepristone, the abortion pill. As many Republicans do. You're going to have a national abortion. And that's just one issue.
By the way, he bragged in that speech about his tax cuts, which was $2.5 trillion that went to the wealthiest people in America. And that's including Mr. Trump.
So I mean, when he can see a way to do it for himself, he's all in. But this is just not a guy who I think is going to -- he's got a record that middle-class Americans can rally to. The Democrats need to take that fight to him. That's the most important thing. And frankly, they haven't been doing it for the last couple of weeks.
DEAN: All right.
BEGALA: They've been busy forming a circular firing squad.
DEAN: All right. Scott Begala (sic) and -- I'm sorry -- Scott Jennings and Paul Begala, thank you both.
I'm just going to merge you into one.
(LAUGHTER)
DEAN: Thank you both.
JENNINGS: You know, I want to be -- to be in the Paul Begala family would be a joy. I would accept it.
(LAUGHTER)
(CROSSTALK)
DEAN: Well, I appreciate both of you. Thank you both for sticking around. Good to see you.
Coming up, we have new details on President Biden's thinking this weekend amid pressure to drop out of the race. A live report with new reporting.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
