Donald Trump took aim at President Joe Biden, Hunter Biden, US foreign policy and undocumented immigrants on Saturday as he began his bid to return to the White House with campaign stops in New Hampshire and South Carolina.
Trump, who is bidding to become the first president elected to non-consecutive terms since Grover Cleveland, presented himself as the Republican best positioned to win the nomination and defeat Biden.
“The 2024 election is our only chance to save our country, and we need a leader who is ready to do it on day one,” Trump told an audience in the South Carolina House of Representatives. «We need a president who can take on the whole system and a president who can win.»
in a series of recent surveys, Trump has edged out Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, the clear No. 2 choice of Republican voters at this early stage, by 19 points or more. But there are signs that support for Trump has been waning in some parts of the country: A University of New Hampshire poll released this week showed DeSantis leading Trump 42 percent to 30 percent. New Hampshire traditionally holds the country’s first primary, following the Iowa caucuses.
In South Carolina, Trump was surrounded by Republican officials, including Gov. Henry McMaster, Sen. Lindsey Graham and Rep. Joe Wilson.
In Saturday’s twin speeches, which largely mirrored each other, Trump painted a bleak picture of America under Biden and vowed to reverse inflation, secure America’s border with Mexico and strengthen America’s position as a world power. .
“Through weakness and incompetence, Joe Biden has brought us to the brink of World War III,” Trump said. “We are on the brink of World War III, in case anyone doesn’t know. As president, I will bring peace back through force.»
He called Biden’s failed US withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021 «the lowest day in our country’s history» and claimed that if he were president, «a peace deal would be negotiated within 24 hours» to end the invasion of Ukraine by Russia.
He blamed Biden for border crossings and drug deaths, repeating his 2015 claim that Mexico is sending «murderers,» «murderers» and «rapists» to the US.
“They are sending people who are murderers, murderers, they are sending rapists. And they are sending, frankly, terrorists, or the terrorists come on their own, and we cannot allow this to happen,» Trump said.
And, at a time when conservative activists have been trying to rewrite school curricula, Trump vowed to end federal funding for schools that disagree with his views on education and allow parents direct choice. to public school principals.
At both stops, Trump mocked Hunter Biden, the president’s son, and appeared to blame the older Biden for his adult son’s troubles.
«At what point does the father get angry, as if this child is not doing well for me?» Trump rhetorically asked in New Hampshire.
The campaign comes to a halt on Saturday after a hiatus since Trump launched his campaign at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida in November. He said he will make sweeping changes to America’s immigration, economic and energy policy if he returns to the White House.
«We’ll turn it around and we’ll do it fast,» he said.