- Trump is vowing not to be "nice" after his near-fatal shooting at his Pennsylvania rally.
- He initially softened his tone, calling for unity in a speech at the Republican National Convention.
Former President Donald Trump wants you to know that he won't be getting mellower — even after he was almost shot dead at his July 13 rally in Butler, Pennsylvania.
Two weeks on, he's back to attacking his political opponents.
In a rally speech in Charlotte, North Carolina, on Wednesday, Trump remarked on how some people said he "became nice" after the shooting.
"You know, I was supposed to be nice. They say, something happened to me when I got shot—I became nice," he said, drawing laughter from the crowd.
Trump: You know, I was supposed to be nice. They say something happened to me when I got shot. I became nice… If you don't mind, I'm not going to be nice. Is that okay? pic.twitter.com/XEpUcIJwyR
— Acyn (@Acyn) July 24, 2024
"And when you're dealing with these people—they're very dangerous people—when you're dealing with them, you can't be too nice," he added.
"So, if you don't mind, I'm not going to be nice. Is that ok?" he said, which was met with cheers from the crowd.
When contacted for comment, Trump's communications director, Steven Cheung, told BI: "President Trump is a truth-teller, and there is nothing more unifying than telling the truth about a weak, failed, incompetent, and dangerously liberal Kamala Harris and her destructive policies."
Trump is still going on the offense
After the shooting, House Speaker Mike Johnson condemned the attack and said that America has "got to turn the rhetoric down."
In an interview on NBC's "Today" on July 14, the Louisiana Republican said: "We've got to turn the temperature down in this country."
And Trump played ball — albeit briefly. He said he threw away an initial draft of a speech intended for the Republican National Convention, which had many attacks on President Joe Biden and his administration.
"I had all prepared an extremely tough speech, really good, all about the corrupt, horrible administration," Trump told the New York Post in a report published on July 15.
He said he "threw it away" in favor of a speech calling to "unite our country."
But it was short-lived. Trump only talked about unity for 26 minutes out of his 92-minute RNC speech.
For the rest of the time, he went back to attacking the Democratic party.
He has since launched numerous attacks — on Truth Social and at campaign events — at both Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris.
Trump's focus on Harris is increasing as she is set to become his direct rival for the presidential bid. On Monday, she secured enough delegates to win the Democratic presidential nomination.
At his Charlotte rally on Wednesday, he said: "So now we have a new victim to defeat: Lyin' Kamala Harris." He also called her "the most incompetent and far-left vice president in American history."
He has also, on numerous occasions in recent days, called Harris "Lyin' Kamala Harris" and Biden "Crooked Joe Biden" on Truth Social.
In the past two days, he has targeted either the president or the vice president in his Truth Social posts at least 21 times.
Following Biden's announcement on Sunday that he quit the race and endorsed Harris, Trump got riled up about having to "start all over again."
"So, we are forced to spend time and money on fighting Crooked Joe Biden, he polls badly after having a terrible debate, and quits the race," Trump wrote on Truth Social. "Now we have to start all over again."