In meeting in Ohio, Trump calls to vote for Republicans, denounces immigration

Donald Trump officially launched on Saturday, June 26, the campaign for the American mid-term elections, by finding in Ohio in the United States, the atmosphere of the meetings that he likes, the gaze already fixed on 2024.

Famous for his open-air meetings with a supercharged atmosphere, Donald Trump, the tribune, has reconnected, for the first time since he left the White House five months ago, with all the codes of these meetings in a forceful one-and-a-half hour speech.

It was the “very first meeting of the 2022 election,” he said in the introduction. “We are going to take over the House (of Representatives), we are going to take back the Senate,” hammered the former president.

Immigration and “stolen” election allegations

In front of a crowd of thousands of enthusiastic supporters, Donald Trump addressed all his usual favorite themes, criticizing the American elections and placing particular emphasis on immigration.

“You have millions of people coming into our country. We have no idea who they are. Joe Biden is doing the exact opposite of what we did,” he said.

Donald Trump painted the portrait of an America running “to ruin” under his successor Joe Biden, while repeating his allegations of an election “stolen” by the Democrats in 2020.

The 75-year-old real estate mogul has yet to explicitly acknowledge his successor’s victory. On the contrary, he continues to cry electoral fraud, even if his dozens of complaints have been rejected, including by judges he had appointed.

“Joe Biden is destroying our nation, right in front of our eyes,” he said. “Who the hell knows what will happen in 2024, we will not even have a country!”, He exclaimed.

Block the “false republicans”

Banned from social networks after the murderous assault on Capitol Hill on January 6, Donald Trump had already made two major public speeches since leaving Washington. But the more subdued atmosphere of conservative salons had nothing to do with the atmosphere of these meetings, where the former president never ceases to call out to an overexcited public and where the hits are linked to the loudspeakers.

Having promised to play a big role in the key midterms elections of November 2022, he confirmed his strategy to support pro-Trump candidates.

Saturday night’s rally was held in support of former Donald Trump adviser Max Miller, who is running against House Republican, Anthony Gonzalez.

The latter, who represents Ohio, was one of ten Republicans in the lower house, out of 211, to vote in favor of impeachment of Donald Trump during his impeachment trial for “incitement to insurgency” during the assault on the Capitol, where parliamentarians were gathered to certify the victory of Joe Biden. The former president was finally acquitted in February 2021 by the Senate.

Since then, the tempestuous New Yorker has vowed to do everything so that his rare Republican accusers are not re-elected.

“Anthony Gonzales is a false Republican and a disgrace for your state,” Donald Trump said on Saturday, praising the talents of Max Miller on the contrary. “Max will be tough on immigration … he will protect Ohio jobs just like I did.”

Eyes on 2024

Despite a forced silence on the major social networks Twitter and Facebook, Donald Trump remains very influential among Republicans.

>> To read: Even from a distance, Donald Trump extends his stranglehold on the Republican Party

Some supporters had camped for several days there to be sure to see the billionaire. And we could see in the crowd of T-shirts “Trump 2024”, intended to motivate the former president, which raises the prospect of a new presidential candidacy.

“I came here to support Trump, to run for president” in 2024, Philip Mesi, 52, who was waiting shortly before the start of the event in the heat of the country, told AFP. summer. “Biden is horrible, he does not do a good job”, while “Trump had created jobs”, he said.

Joe Biden “is the worst president he is”, for his part judged Laura Benas, 57, who like many on the spot does not believe in the defeat of the Republican in 2020, and speaks of a “very deep corruption in the US government “.

The former president has left open the question of whether he will stand again in 2024, dangling this possibility in the crowd on Saturday. “We have won the election twice, and there is a possibility that we will have to win it a third time,” he said, triggering cheers from the thousands of supporters gathered for his visit to Wellington, near the industrial city. of Cleveland.

Donald Trump intends in any case to strengthen his public presence in the coming months. As of Wednesday, he will travel to Texas to visit the border area with Mexico and discuss illegal immigration, one of the central topics of his presidency. Then on July 3, he will organize another big meeting in Sarasota, Florida.

With Reuters and AFP