In a major comeback after surviving an assassination attempt, Republican candidate Donald Trump is set to hold his first public campaign rally alongside his new running mate, Ohio Sen. JD Vance, in the battleground state of Michigan. The rally, scheduled to begin at 5 p.m. EDT, marks their first joint appearance since becoming the GOP nominees at the Republican National Convention.

The decision to choose Vance as his vice presidential pick is seen as an effort by Trump to rally support among Rust Belt voters in key states like Michigan, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, and Ohio - states that played a crucial role in his unexpected victory in 2016. Vance emphasized his humble upbringing in small-town Ohio during his acceptance speech, pledging to prioritize working-class Americans whose jobs were outsourced and who suffered from the consequences of war.

Michigan, a state that Trump narrowly won by just over 10,000 votes in 2016 but was flipped back to the Democrats by Joe Biden in 2020, is considered a crucial swing state in the upcoming election. The rally will take place in Grand Rapids, a historically Republican stronghold that has shown a recent trend towards the Democratic party.

With Vance by his side, Trump aims to regain the support of Michigan voters who helped him secure victory four years ago. The two candidates will deliver speeches in a bid to sway voters in a county that Trump won in 2016 but Biden managed to flip in the last election.

Democrats have traditionally dominated recent Michigan elections, but recent divisions within the party have presented an opportunity for Republicans to make inroads. Some Democrats are now questioning whether Biden should drop out of the race, but the 81-year-old incumbent has made it clear that he has no intentions of quitting despite his isolation at his beach home in Delaware after being diagnosed with COVID-19.

Meanwhile, Trump's campaign has been focused on highlighting what they describe as Biden's "dark vision for the future." Trump's convention speech, which became the longest in modern history at just under 93 minutes, emphasized his goal of being a president for all Americans, urging unity in the face of the recent shooting incident in Pennsylvania that left Trump injured and one man dead.

As both campaigns gear up their efforts to win over voters in Michigan, the outcome of this rally could play a significant role in shaping the trajectory of the presidential race. Michigan voters will once again be in the spotlight as their swing-state status holds the potential to impact the final outcome of the election, making this campaign rally a crucial moment for both candidates.