Donald Trump held his first campaign-style rally since leaving the White House, reiterating his unfounded electoral grievances and allegations of fraud, while urging his supporters to help Republicans regain a majority in the US Congress.
Saturday’s rally in Ohio – the state the former president held in the 2020 election – marks a return to the kind of free mass gathering that has been crucial to maintaining support for his base.
He was called in to support Max Miller, the former White House aide who is challenging Republican Representative Anthony Gonzalez for his seat in Congress. Gonzalez was one of 10 Republican members of the House of Representatives who voted to impeach Trump for his role in instigating the January 6 attack on the US Capitol after his electoral defeat to Democrat Joe Biden.
Trump has vowed to support those who challenge the 10th House of Representatives in the upcoming Republican primary.
The Democratic Party’s slim majority in both houses of Congress will be at stake in the 2022 midterm elections, and history favors Republicans’ chances of winning seats in those contests.
“We’re going to get the House back, we’re going to get the Senate, we’re going to get America back and we’re going to do it soon,” Trump told thousands of Lauren County supporters. , Ohio Fairgrounds.
So far, nine of the 10 Republican House members who voted to impeach Trump have faced primary challengers. The former president offered the support of everyone who would come forward to challenge the remaining candidate, New York Representative John Katko, according to syracuse.com.
Trump also backed a challenger to Senator Lisa Murkowski, the only one of seven Republican senators who voted to convict him in his impeachment trial in January and is expected to be re-elected in 2022.
“Scam of the Century”
The Ohio event in Wellington, about 40 miles (64 kilometers) southwest of Cleveland, was the first of three public appearances, followed by a trip to the US-Mexico border on June 30 and a rally in Sarasota, Florida on July 3.
While Trump praised Miller as a “great patriot” and “a wonderful man” who “loved the people of Ohio,” he spent most of his 90-minute speech focusing on the 2020 election, which he insisted he win. Although local election officials, the attorney general and a number of other officials, and judges, including some of his appointees, said there was no evidence of allegations of mass election fraud.
“This was the hoax of the century, and it was the crime of the century,” Trump said. The 2020 presidential election was rigged. We won that election by a landslide.”
“Trump won” and “Four more years! Four more years!”, the crowd sang. But the former president did not clearly indicate his political future.
However, he angered the public at one point by suggesting the possibility of another stab at the White House.
“We may have to win a third time,” he said.
A supporter waits for former President Donald Trump to speak at a rally at the Lauren County Fairgrounds on Saturday, June 26, 2021 in Wellington, Ohio. [Tony Dejak/ AP]
Trump’s recurrence can be affected by the outcome of various legal cases.
Manhattan prosecutors told his firm Thursday that he may soon face criminal charges stemming from a wide-ranging investigation into the former president’s business dealings. The New York Times, citing informed sources, reported that charges could be brought against the Trump Organization within a few days.
Trump denounced the investigation as nothing more than a “witch hunt” designed to harm him politically.
immigration
The former president also used the Ohio rally to criticize Biden, calling it a “disaster” and focusing on the growing number of immigrants crossing the US southern border, an issue Republicans focused on to mobilize their voters.
There are millions of people entering our country. We have no idea who they are. “Joe Biden is doing the exact opposite,” Trump said.
“Joe Biden is destroying our nation before our very eyes,” he added.
Trump rallies have been instrumental in his politics since he launched his 2016 campaign, and supporters in Ohio said they hope he will use such events to help unite the party behind like-minded congressional candidates.
“Continuing these rallies is critical,” said Jessica Deakin, a 30-year-old homemaker mom from southeastern Ohio, adding that Trump could be a “voice for the more conservative movement here in Ohio and across the country.”
Chris Laszkowski, 55, who lives in Ohio, said she misses Trump.
I think they robbed him of the election while he’s still our president.
Trump’s repeated false allegations of election fraud have taken hold of the Republican Party, with 53% of Republican voters saying they believe Trump won the 2020 election, according to a Reuters and Ipsos poll. The poll found that they attributed his loss to illegal voting.
Republican strategist Matt Dole said both Trump and those vying to be close to him benefited from the public welfare demonstrated at the Ohio event. Some of the candidates now seeking his support have made derogatory comments about Trump in the past.
“These are weddings that matter,” said Dole, who is based in Ohio. “Donald Trump is using these opportunities to keep his name out there, to keep Al Qaeda motivated.”
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