Trump poll at rally implies fans prefer Biden over Harris as opponent

The day before President Joe Biden withdrew from the race for president, former President Donald Trump asked the audience a question: Who would they most like to run against in the 2024 presidential election?

Trump appeared at the rally in Grand Rapids, Michigan, on Saturday night. It was his first appearance alongside running mate Sen. J.D. Vance and his first public event since surviving an assassination attempt at a rally in Pennsylvania the week before.

Trump presented the poll to the participants and asked them to indicate which candidate they would run against: Biden or Harris.

When Harris was first mentioned, the crowd booed, but they also cheered because he was taking on the “corrupt Joe Biden.”

Less than 24 hours later, Biden announced that he was dropping out of the presidential race and endorsed Harris as his replacement.

Live updates elections 2024: Harris endorsements pour in; Trump attacks begin

Video shows crowd favors Biden over Trump

“Let’s take a poll of the candidates, ready?” Trump says during the meeting.

“Let’s do it. Who would you most like to race against…if you’re on our team and we want to win?”

“Ready: Kamala Harris,” Trump said after a brief pause, after which the audience booed.

A moment later, Trump poses, “crooked Joe Biden,” and is greeted with a chorus of cheers.

“Okay, I don’t think we have to go much further,” Trump said.

After news of Biden’s candidacy broke, Trump called Biden the worst president in history and predicted he would beat Harris.

Trump reports on shooting, attacks Biden at Michigan rally

During Trump’s acceptance speech at the Republican National Convention on Thursday, he said he would tell the story of the shooting at his rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, only once. But at Saturday’s rally in Grand Rapids, Michigan, he told the story again.

“I took a bullet for democracy,” Trump told the crowd.

Trump also lashed out at Biden during his speech and made several false claims about Michigan, the Detroit Free Press, part of the USA TODAY Network, reported.

Michigan is a crucial battleground state for the 2024 election, and Trump has both won and lost there. In 2016, Trump defeated Hillary Clinton by a narrow margin, just over 10,000 votes, taking 47.6% of the vote to Clinton’s 47.4%. In 2020, President Biden defeated Trump by a few percentage points, taking 50.6% of the vote to Trump’s 47.8%.

Contributors: Dave Boucher, Todd Spangler, Detroit Free Press; David Jackson, USA TODAY