Former US President Donald Trump on Saturday held his first campaign rally since last week’s assassination attempt, telling the crowd in Grand Rapids, Michigan, that he “took a bullet for democracy.”

“I shouldn’t be here right now, but something very special happened,” Trump said, according to CNN.

"They keep saying he's a threat to democracy. I'm saying, ‘’What the hell did I do to democracy?’ Last week I took a bullet for democracy," Trump added, referencing a talking point often used by Democrats. "What did I do against democracy? Crazy."

The former President, who spoke for nearly two hours, thanked the staff at Butler Memorial Hospital, where he was taken minutes after last week’s shooting at his rally in Butler, Pennsylvania.

Trump called Corey Comperatore, who was shot and killed during the assassination attempt, a “hero,” and also spoke of the two rallygoers who were injured, David Dutch and James Copenhaver.

“Together we will fight, fight, fight, right?” Trump said, repeating the words he said when he stood up after the shots were fired at the rally. “And we will win, win, win.”

Trump praised the organizers of the Republican National Convention this past week in Milwaukee, where he accepted the Republican presidential nomination, and called the city a “fantastic place.”