Donald Trump turns his full focus on VP Harris at first rally since Biden's exit from 2024 race

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (WTVD) -- On Wednesday, Former President Donald Trump made his first appearance in North Carolina since surviving an assassination attempt.

Trump's visit also comes a week after the Republican National Conference (RNC) where he was officially named the Republican nominee and delivered the longest acceptance speech in history on the final night. On day one of the conference, Trump announced that Ohio Senator JD Vance was his vice president running mate. The two held their first joint rally in Michigan on Saturday, July 20.

The rally in Charlotte started at 6 p.m. inside the Bojangles Coliseum.

Donald Trump unleashed a barrage of attack lines Wednesday against his likely new opponent, Vice President Kamala Harris, whom he called his "new victim to defeat" and accused of deceiving the public about President Joe Biden 's ability to run for a second term.

The rally also marked his first public campaign event since Biden dropped out of the 2024 matchup and Harris became the Democrats' likely nominee.

"So now we have a new victim to defeat: Lyin' Kamala Harris," Trump said, labeling her "the most incompetent and far left vice president in American history."

Trump called her a "radical left lunatic" and called her "crazy" for her positions on abortion and on immigration. He also mispronounced her first name repeatedly.

Harris is expected to make abortion a key part of her campaign, looking to present herself to voters as someone who will fight against abortion restrictions. Earlier this week, she said she "trusts women to make decisions about their own bodies."

The former president's stop in North Carolina shows he's concerned about keeping the state in his column this November, even as his team reaches for wins in traditionally Democratic-leaning states like Minnesota, which Trump is set to visit on Saturday.

Trump has ramped up his criticism of the vice president since Biden's abrupt departure, calling Harris "the same as Biden but much more radical."

He blamed her for what he portrays as the Biden administration's failures, particularly security along the U.S.-Mexico border. On Wednesday, the speakers who appeared on stage before the Republican nominee attacked Harris' record on the border, highlighting she was tasked with leading a White House effort to tackle migration issues. Harris' name was met with boos several times during the speeches.

"She was assigned that, she was given that task, and she failed," said Brandon Judd, former president of the National Border Patrol Council, the union that represents agents.

Trump also accused her of being just as responsible for Biden's policies at the U.S.-Mexico border, which saw illegal crossing arrests reach record highs at the end of 2023 and repeated his pledge to conduct mass deportations with the help of local police.

"Kamala's deadly destruction of America's borders is completely and totally disqualifying. She shouldn't be allowed to run for president with what she's done," Trump told supporters.

Trump has hedged on plans for an expected debate with Harris, first saying that he wanted Fox News, not ABC, to host the matchup he had originally scheduled for September with Biden. On Tuesday, Trump appeared to tweak that message again, saying on a call with reporters that he'd like to debate Harris "more than once" but not committing to appearing at the debate currently on the books and saying he'd only agreed to debate Biden twice, not Harris.

Harris, meanwhile, spent Wednesday in Indiana, telling members of the historically Black sorority Zeta Phi Beta that "we are not playing around" and asked for their help in electing her president in November, an election she characterized as "a choice between two different visions for our nation, one focused on the future, the other focused on the past."

Voters in Indiana haven't backed a Democratic presidential candidate in nearly 16 years. But Harris, a woman of Black and South Asian descent, was speaking to a group already excited by her historic status as the likely Democratic nominee and one that her campaign hopes can expand its coalition.

Quietly, Republicans have spoken about how subbing Harris in for Biden nullifies a portion of their party's argument in favor of Trump's vitality and vigor.

At 81, Biden would have been the oldest presidential nominee heading into a general election. Now, the 78-year-old Trump occupies that slot. Harris, 59, has launched a campaign that at least in some corners appears to be stoking interest among the younger voters who could be key in deciding an anticipated close general election.

Wednesday's rally also is the first since the resignation of Secret Service director Kimberly Cheatle, who said she took "full responsibility for the security lapse" that led to a gunman being able to get so close to Trump at the outdoor event in Pennsylvania.

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Importance of North Carolina

North Carolina continues to be a hotbed in the race for the White House this year. Vice President Kamala Harris came to Fayetteville on July 18 -- in what was her seventh visit to the Tar Heel state in 2024.

The state's 16 electoral votes are highly sought after in what could shape up to be a close election.

The last Democrat running for president to win North Carolina was Barack Obama in his first term back in 2008. Since then the state has gone red for Mitt Romney and Donald Trump twice.

However, Democrats are optimistic because Trump's margin of victory shrank from 173,315 votes against Hillary Clinton in 2016 to just 74,483 votes against Joe Biden in 2020.

Mecklenburg County, home to Charlotte - the state's biggest city - was also the scene of Trump's narrowest margin of victory in North Carolina's GOP primary, edging out Nikki Haley by fewer than 8 percentage points.

This year, Trump had planned to hold his first rally since the start of his hush money trial in Fayetteville, but that event was called off due to inclement weather. Trump called in from his private plane instead.

Democrats also have been working to win North Carolina, where the party's most recent presidential win was Barack Obama's 2008 victory, despite recent GOP dominance.

Biden held a campaign event in Raleigh the day after his disastrous June debate with Trump. While he was much more forceful in that appearance than he was on the debate stage, it did not help much to quell the growing concern from members of his party about his ability to win the White House again.

With Harris now poised to take his spot, she may again be turning to North Carolina for some political help: the state's Gov. Roy Cooper is among the Democrats that Harris' campaign is vetting for a possible pick as her vice presidential running mate.

Cooper is term limited and cannot seek reelection. The highly competitive race to replace him pits Democratic Attorney General Josh Stein against Republican Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson, a staunch Trump supporter who is North Carolina's first Black major party nominee for governor.

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The Associated Press contributed to this report.