An embittered Donald Trump has used his first post-presidential speech to propagate the lie of a “rigged” election in 2020 and hint that he might try to beat Democrats “for a third time” in 2024.
Grasping for continued relevance, Trump returned to his political comfort zone by fearmongering about immigrants and unleashing angry tirades against Joe Biden, his Republican critics and the media.
The twice-impeached former president, greeted by wild cheers at the biggest annual gathering of grassroots conservatives in Orlando, Florida, falsely asserted: “Illegal aliens and dead people are voting, and many other horrible things are happening that are too voluminous to even mention, but people know.
“I mean, it’s being studied and the level of dishonesty is not to be believed. We have a very sick and corrupt electoral process that must be fixed immediately. This election was rigged and the supreme court and other courts didn’t want to do anything about it.”
The crowd at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC), where the “big lie” took root and flourished over the past four days, chanted: “You won! You won!”
Trump replied bluntly: “We did.”
The 45th president spent two months falsely claiming that last November’s election was stolen, culminating in a deadly insurrection by his supporters at the US Capitol on 6 January.
In fact Biden won by a margin of 7m votes and state officials, courts and Trump’s own attorney general found no significant irregularities.
Trump criticised judges for not having “the guts” to intervene. And earlier, in an apparent ad lib, he made clear that he still does not accept the legitimacy of Biden’s victory.
“Actually, as you know they just lost the White House,” he said of Democrats before hinting that he could seek revenge. “But who knows, who knows? I may even decide to beat them for a third time.” It was typical Trump showmanship and the room erupted in cheers and applause.
He went on to call for sweeping electoral reforms including the abolition of early voting and tougher voter rules, widely seen as measures that would have a disproportionate impact on people of colour.
Trump, who launched his first campaign for president in June 2015 with racist statements about Mexican immigrants and the need for a border wall, defaulted to that issue as he fiercely denounced Biden.
“We all knew that the Biden administration was going to be bad – but none of us imagined just how bad they would be, and how far left they would go … Joe Biden has had the most disastrous first month of any president in modern history.
He continued: “In just one short month we have gone from ‘America first’ to ‘America last’,” citing a “new and horrible crisis on our southern border … Biden’s radical immigration policies aren’t just illegal – they are immoral, they are heartless, and they are a betrayal of our nation’s core values”.
He also demanded the that his successor open schools despite the coronavirus pandemic. Trump said: “The Biden administration is actually bragging about the education they are providing to migrant children on the border, while at the same, time millions of American children are having their futures destroyed by Joe Biden’s anti-science school closures.”
Wearing blue suit, white shirt and red tie, Trump walked on stage just before 5pm to a standing ovation from hundreds of supporters bunched together indoors with few face masks at what looked dangerously like a coronavirus super-spreader event.
Trump began: “Hello, CPAC. Do you miss me yet?” He pledged: “I want you to know that I am going to continue to fight right by your side,” but made clear he would do so as the standard bearer of the Republican party. “It’s going to unite and be stronger than ever before. I am not starting a new party. That was fake news.”
He went on to call for a purge of the Republican critics who voted for his impeachment after the US Capitol mob violence, including “warmonger” Liz Cheney, the No 3 Republican in the House of Representatives.
He insisted: “The Republican party is united. The only division is between a handful of Washington DC establishment political hacks and everybody else all over the country.” Trump said he would support “smart, tough” Republican leaders.
In a comeback speech that lasted an hour and a half there were many familiar lines from old speeches, including tirades against the the Iran nuclear deal, “forever wars”, renewable energy, big tech companies and the Washington establishment. But he also found some new prejudices to flaunt, with misinformed transphobia.
After using his arms to imitate a weightlifter, he said: “Young girls and women are incensed that they are now being forced to compete against those who are biological males. It’s not good for women, it’s not good for women’s sports which worked so long and so hard to get to where they are.”
Trump rounded off with another tease about his future ambitions, telling the crowd: “With your help we will take back the House, we will win the Senate and then a Republican president will make a triumphant return to the White House. And I wonder who that will be. I wonder who that will be. Who, who, who will that be? I wonder.”
Earlier on Sunday, the Republican congressman Jim Jordan said of him: “The leader of the conservative movement, the leader of the ‘American first’ movement, the leader of the Republican party and, I hope, on January 20, 2025, he is once again the leader of our great country.”
But the annual CPAC straw poll found that only 55% of attendees want Trump to be the Republican nominee in 2024, ahead of Florida governor Ron DeSantis at 21% (the conference is taking place in Florida), South Dakota governor Kristi Noem at 4% and former South Carolina governor Nikki Haley at 3%.
Evan McMullin, executive director of Stand Up Republic and a former presidential candidate, tweeted in response: “It’s still ‘his party,’ but there’s a growing number ready for something new.”
Source: US Politics - theguardian.com
