The Republican performed on Saturday night (local time) in Wellington, Ohio under the slogan “Safe America!” – “Save America!” or “Save America!” – in front of thousands of followers. In his speech, he repeated his often refuted accusation that there had been fraud in the presidential election in November.
“Because America can’t be too great”
He accused his successor, Joe Biden, of “destroying our nation before our eyes”. The police put the number of participants in the rally at around 20,000. Many of them wore t-shirts and baseball caps with labels like “Make America Great Again” or “Trump 2024 – Because America Can Never Be Too Great”.
Trump has repeatedly flirted with a renewed presidential candidacy in 2024 – but so far only made hints. Despite the calls from his supporters in Wellington for “four more years” of Trump, the Republican did not make a clear statement about his political future plans in his 90-minute speech on Saturday.
Biden’s government as a “total catastrophe”
Speaking to cheering supporters, Trump said the Republicans would defeat the “radical Democrats” in the 2022 congressional elections and win back a majority in the House and Senate. Then in 2024 the White House should be recaptured. Biden’s government is a “total disaster”.
Trump also repeated his allegations against Germany. Germany is paying Russia “billions of dollars” for the Nord Stream 2 Baltic Sea pipeline, but at the same time allowing itself to be protected from Russia by the USA. He “likes” Chancellor Angela Merkel (CDU), “but she is tough and she is smart and she takes advantage of the USA”.
The ex-president, who came under criticism in his own ranks after the storming of the Capitol on 6 January, consolidated his power with the Republicans by supporting loyal party friends and openly attacking critics. In Wellington, Trump stood behind his ex-advisor Max Miller, who challenged Anthony Gonzalez in the Republican primaries for the 2022 congressional election in an Ohio constituency. Gonzalez was one of only ten Conservative MPs who voted for an impeachment trial against Trump after the Capitol flood.
Trump resigned from the presidency on January 20 after his electoral defeat by Biden. The 75-year-old has not conceded his election defeat to this day.
Kick-off for a series of events
The ex-president, banned from online platforms after the Capitol flooded, has given two major speeches since the end of his tenure, in February at the CPAC Conservative Conference in Orlando, Florida, and at a meeting of his Republicans in North Carolina in early June .
Now, for the first time, he held a mass rally like in the 2016 and 2020 election campaigns. It should be the start of a whole series of such events. On Wednesday, Trump will also visit the Mexican border with Texas Governor Greg Abbott. A tough course in immigration policy was one of the hallmarks of Trump’s presidency.
Trump is still very popular with the conservative base. “I love Donald Trump, the best president of the United States,” said 57-year-old Laura Benas at the rally in Wellington on Saturday. She was convinced that Trump had won the November 3rd election and had been deprived of a second term through massive electoral fraud.
“Corruption is so deeply anchored in the US government that a non-politician (Trump) really has no chance,” said Benas. She hopes Trump will run again in 2024.
