Trump holds first event since an apparent assassination attempt while Harris does a rare interview

FLINT, Mich. (AP) — Former President Donald Trump on Tuesday made his first public appearance since Sunday’s second apparent assassination attempt against him, speaking to an crowd chanting “God bless Trump!” and “Fight, Fight, Fight” as U.S. Secret Service agents surrounded the stage to protect him.

“It’s been a great experience,” the Republican presidential nominee said in an evening town hall in Flint, Michigan, about holding events with thousands of supporters. But he also went on to call running for president “a dangerous business” akin to car racing or bull riding.

“Only consequential presidents get shot at," he said.

Earlier in the day, Vice President Kamala Harris struck a measured tone, even steering clear of mentioning Trump by name in an interview with Black journalists that starkly contrasted with the former president's own highly contentious appearance before the same group.

The two candidates briefly put their differences aside in a phone call Trump described as “very, very nice” even as crowds booed when he mentioned Harris by her first name. Harris said earlier in the day that she told Trump “there's no place for political violence in our country.”

Both sides are ramping up campaigning with no changes to Trump's calendar despite the apparent assassination attempt at one of his Florida golf courses, which has renewed accusations by Republicans that Democrats' criticism against Trump is inspiring violent attacks. Democrats have accused Trump in the past for his long history of inflammatory campaign rhetoric and advocacy for jailing or prosecuting his political enemies. But Harris was treading more carefully in the aftermath of the latest incident.

Her session with the National Association of Black Journalists was one of the few extensive sit-down interviews Harris has done since replacing President Joe Biden atop the Democratic ticket in July. She repeatedly criticized Trump on issues including his handling of the COVID-19 pandemic and opposition to abortion access, but was careful to refer to him as the former president and in other ways that avoided naming him directly.

Trump re-upped his past retaliation threats against election workers, donors and others as he tries to stoke fears about the integrity of the upcoming 2024 election.

He posted Tuesday on his social media site, “Those involved in unscrupulous behavior will be sought out, caught, and prosecuted at levels, unfortunately, never seen before.”

The Michigan town hall was billed as focusing on the auto industry, a pillar of the battleground state. Trump alleged Democrats would undercut American car manufacturing by pushing for the adoption of electric vehicles and repeated false claims that Chinese automakers are building large factories across the border in Mexico to flood the U.S. with vehicles.

Trump has appearances later in the week in New York, Washington, D.C., and North Carolina.

Harris has her own stops in Washington as well as Michigan and Wisconsin in the coming days, with the two candidates overlapping in concentrating on the industrial Midwest, Pennsylvania and North Carolina — all swing areas that could decide an election expected to be exceedingly close.

Harris answered questions from three association journalists at a small, relatively quiet venue at the Philadelphia studios of public radio station WHYY. That was very different from Trump's addressing the NABJ conference in Chicago in July, when he was antagonistic to the moderators and sparked an uproar by questioning the vice president’s racial identity.

Her manner was a departure from her campaign rallies, where Harris often receives some of her loudest applause by declaring that her professional background as a prosecutor means, “I know Donald Trump's type.”

Pressed about reports of eroding support among Black male voters, Harris said she wasn't “assuming I’m gonna have it because I’m Black.” She ducked a question about whether she'd support efforts by some congressional Democrats for reparations from the government to compensate descendants of slaves for years of unpaid labor by their ancestors. Biden has backed the idea of at least studying reparations.

So far, Biden and Harris have tried to avoid politics in their responses to Sunday’s incident, instead condemning political violence of all kinds. The president also urged Congress to increase funding to the Secret Service.

Trump has claimed, without evidence, that months of criticism against him by Harris and Biden, who call him a threat to American democracy, inspired the latest attack.

“I really believe that the rhetoric from the Democrats" is “making the bullets fly. And it’s very dangerous. Dangerous for them. It’s dangerous for both sides,” Trump said in an interview with The Washington Post.

Authorities say Ryan Wesley Routh camped outside the golf course in West Palm Beach, where Trump was playing Sunday, for nearly 12 hours with food and a rifle but fled without firing shots when a Secret Service agent spotted and shot at him. He was subsequently arrested as he drove on the highway.

Routh’s past online posts suggest he has not been consistent about his politics in terms of supporting Democrats or Republicans. The attack came barely two months after Trump was wounded during a rally in Pennsylvania.

Trump also met Tuesday with sheriff’s office deputies who activated the highway traffic stop that took Routh into custody.

Trump’s running mate, Ohio Sen. JD Vance, said at a Georgia Faith & Freedom Coalition event on Monday that “it’s popular on a lot of corners of the left to say that we have a both sides problem.” But “no one has tried to kill Kamala Harris in the last couple of months, and two people now have tried to kill Donald Trump."

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said during her briefing with reporters Tuesday that there should be zero tolerance for violence-inciting rhetoric. She bristled at the suggestion that Biden and Harris have stoked division by calling Trump a threat to democracy, saying there were concrete examples of the former president being that — such as when he helped incite an attack on the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.

In response to Vance's comments, Jean-Pierre said, “When you have that type of language out there it’s dangerous. It’s dangerous because people look up to that particular national leader, and they listen to you." She said such comments open the door for "people to take you very seriously.”

Dan Curry, 44, of Saginaw, Michigan, attended the town hall Tuesday and said he is worried about the prospect of more violence against Trump.

“They say the Republicans are the gun-crazed lunatics trying to shoot people, but you don’t see us going after them,” said Curry, while adding these attacks may mobilize more support for Trump.

“It energizes his base,” he said. “How could it not?”

Weissert reported from Washington and Gomez Licon reported from Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Associated Press writers Darlene Superville in Philadelphia, Matt Brown in Washington, Jill Colvin in New York and Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to this report.

Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris is interviewed by the National Association of Black Journalists at the WHYY studio in Philadelphia, Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris, left, is interviewed by National Association of Black Journalists members Gerren Keith Gaynor, far right, Eugene Daniels, second from the right, and Tonya Mosley, third from the right, at the WHYY studio in Philadelphia, Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

Democratic presidential nominee, Vice President Kamala Harris, speaking during an unscheduled stop to greet student volunteers at Community College of Philadelphia, Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2024, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

Democratic presidential nominee, Vice President Kamala Harris, center, greeting student volunteers at an unscheduled stop at Community College of Philadelphia, Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2024, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump speaks during a town hall event at the Dort Financial Center, Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2024, in Flint, Mich. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump, left, on stage with Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders, right, during a town hall event at the Dort Financial Center, Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2024, in Flint, Mich. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump waves to supporters as he arrives for a town hall event at the Dort Financial Center, Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2024, in Flint, Mich. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris is interviewed by members of the National Association of Black Journalists at the WHYY studio in Philadelphia, Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump is introduced for a town hall event at the Dort Financial Center, Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2024, in Flint, Mich. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

Democratic presidential nominee, Vice President Kamala Harris, center, speaking during an unscheduled stop to talk to student volunteers at Community College of Philadelphia, Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2024, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump, left, on stage with Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders, right, during a town hall event at the Dort Financial Center, Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2024, in Flint, Mich. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya)

Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris is interviewed by members of the National Association of Black Journalists at the WHYY studio in Philadelphia, Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump, center, gestures as he is introduced for a town hall event at the Dort Financial Center, Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2024, in Flint, Mich. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris waving before boarding Air Force Two, Monday, Sept. 9, 2024, near Philadelphia International Airport, in Philadelphia, Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris meets with staff on the tarmac before boarding Air Force Two, Monday, Sept. 9, 2024, near Philadelphia International Airport, in Philadelphia, Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris speaking at the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation's Phoenix Awards Dinner in Washington, Saturday, Sept. 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)

Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris speaking at the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation's Phoenix Awards Dinner in Washington, Saturday, Sept. 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)

Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump arrives at Harry Reid International Airport to board a plane after a campaign trip, Saturday, Sept.14, 2024, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

Back-to-back hurricanes have jumbled the presidential campaign schedules of Democrat Kamala Harris and Republican Donald Trump.

Trump and Harris have separately gone to Georgia to assess hurricane damage and pledge support. Harris also has visited North Carolina, requiring the candidates to cancel campaign events elsewhere and use up time that is a precious resource in the final weeks before any election. Both Georgia and North Carolina are political battlegrounds.

Meanwhile, a recent poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research found that a solid majority of Hispanic women have a positive opinion of Harris and a negative view of Trump. Hispanic men are more divided on both candidates.

Follow the AP’s Election 2024 coverage at: https://apnews.com/hub/election-2024.

Here’s the latest:

President Joe Biden said ahead of a Friday briefing about hurricane damage that estimates are the Hurricane Milton alone caused $50 billion of damage, while adding that his predecessor, Donald Trump, is “just the biggest mouth” for disinformation about the government’s response.

The president added that the disinformation is a “permanent state of being for some extreme people,” but that he believes the country as a whole wants facts and bipartisan cooperation to address natural disasters.

“I think those who have been spreading these lies to try to undermine the opposition are going, gonna pay a price for it,” Biden added.

Donald Trump has been running a decidedly “bro-y” campaign.

But he will try to expand his appeal with women as he participates in a Fox News town hall focusing on issues impacting women

Fox News Channel announced that host Harris Faulkner will moderate the discussion in front of an audience of women.

“Women constitute the largest group of registered and active voters in the United States, so it is paramount that female voters understand where the presidential candidates stand on the issues that matter to them most,” Faulkner said said in a statement.

Trump’s campaign has aggressively courted men — especially younger men of color — with appearances on podcasts and sporting events popular with the demographic.

Polls have repeatedly shown he is seen more favorably by men than by women.

The Trump sit-down will be taped Tuesday and air the next day, Oct. 16th.

Fox says it has extended a standing invitation to Vice President Kamala Harris to participate in a town hall as well.

A trio of Wisconsin conservatives declared Friday that they support Democrat Kamala Harris rather than Donald Trump in the Nov. 5 election.

Charlie Sykes, a former conservative radio talk show host from Milwaukee; former Republican state Senate Majority Leader Dale Schultz; and former Republican state representative and appellate judge David Deininger told reporters that Trump lacks the character and moral fiber to serve as president.

Sykes said the election is a referendum on constitutional values that the country had always taken for granted before Trump’s political ascendance.

“Republicans have decided winning or staying in power is more important than standing up for these values, which used to be fundamental,” Sykes said. “I’m going to be voting for Kamala Harris for president and it’s not a difficult choice for me. It’s absolutely essential to keep Donald Trump out of the White House.”

Schultz said the country needs real leadership.

“I continue to consider myself a good Republican but it’s time to put the good of the country ahead of the party,” Schultz said.

Deininger said Trump has lied to Americans “about just about everything.”

“A second Trump term would be far worse and far more dangerous,” Deininger said. “If he regains power, he won’t have guardrails to restrain him.”

Doug Emhoff, Kamala Harris’ husband, says Donald Trump won’t debate his wife again because he was badly beaten in their first encounter.

“He’s afraid that that’s going to happen again,” Emhoff says in an interview for the MSNBC show “Morning Joe.”

The husband of the Democratic nominee says Trump would rather spread “this fog of misinformation and disinformation and gaslighting” than face Harris directly.

Emhoff says he doesn’t have the time to be angry at Trump’s criticisms of him and his wife, because that would be a “distraction” and the focus of the Democratic ticket is on campaigning to win the Nov. 5 election.

Democratic vice presidential nominee Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz is firing back at Donald Trump in Michigan for insulting Detroit while campaigning in the city.

Trump said Thursday that if Vice President Kamala Harris wins the White House, “The whole country will be like — you want to know the truth? It’ll be like Detroit.”

Walz was to use a campaign event in nearby Warren, Michigan, to attack Trump’s record in the battleground state, according to prepared remarks shared by the campaign.

“Maybe if he ever spent any time in the Midwest, he’d know Detroit is experiencing a great American comeback. Crime is down. The city is growing. Factories are opening again,” he was to say. "But all these guys know about manufacturing is how to manufacture bulls—-.”

Walz plans to quote Trump campaigning in the state in 2016 promising that they “won’t lose one” automotive plant if he’s elected. ”I guess, technically, that wasn’t a lie — because he lost 6 of them across the country,” Walz was to say.

Walz also plans to reassure the auto-heavy state that Harris was not trying to ban gas-powered vehicles.

Vice President Kamala Harris will participate in a town hall hosted by Charlamagne tha God on Tuesday, the influential radio host announced on his show Friday.

The appearance comes as Harris’ campaign is looking to shore up support among Black men for her candidacy.

The announcement comes a day after former President Barack Obama delivered a forceful call for Black men to support Harris during a campaign swing in Pennsylvania.

Democratic vice presidential nominee Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz says, “I don’t know if any of us do everything right,” as he tried to draw some distance between the Democratic ticket and President Joe Biden.

Speaking to ABC’s "Good Morning America,” Walz was asked whether he and Vice President Kamala Harris would have done anything different over the last four years.

“Look, I don’t know if any of us do everything right,” he replied. “But I can tell you he’s done everything in the best interests of the American public.”

Harris drew fire from former President Donald Trump when she told “The View” earlier this week that she couldn’t think of a difference with Biden — before saying she would put a Republican in her Cabinet if elected.

Walz also used the interview to try to walk back his call at a fundraiser this week to eliminate the electoral college. Harris’ campaign quickly stated it doesn't support such a move and Walz told ABC, “My position is the campaign’s position.”

Democratic vice presidential nominee Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz greets supporters after speaking at a campaign event, Friday, Oct. 11, 2024, in Warren, Mich. (AP Photo/Carlos Osorio)

Republican vice president nominee Sen. JD Vance, R-Ohio, speaks during a campaign event in Greensboro, N.C., Thursday, Oct. 10, 2024. (AP Photo/Chuck Burton)

Democratic vice presidential candidate Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz speaks to the crowd during an early voting rally at Palo Verde High School in Tucson, Ariz., Wednesday, Oct. 9, 2024. (Kelly Presnell/Arizona Daily Star via AP)

Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris poses for a photo with a supporter after speaking at a campaign event Thursday, Oct. 10, 2024, on the Gila River Indian Community reservation in Chandler, Ariz. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)

Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump speaks at a meeting of the Detroit Economic Club, Thursday, Oct. 10, 2024, in Detroit. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)