Former President Donald Trump began campaigning on Saturday for the first time since then declaring his 2024 presidential campaign, saying he is “angrier” and “more committed” to winning the presidency while his former political allies consider bids to potentially challenge him for the Republican nomination.
Trump told supporters at the South Carolina statehouse in Columbia, before suggesting he was the GOP favorite to win in 2024.
Trump has given similar speeches at both stations in New Hampshire and South Carolina, mostly focused on the Biden administration’s handling of foreign policy issues such as the war in Ukraine, the US military withdrawal from Afghanistan, and immigration on the US-Mexico border.
“Through weakness and incompetence, Joe Biden has brought us to the brink of World War III,” Trump said in South Carolina, claiming he could end the Russian invasion of Ukraine within the first 24 hours of his presidency. It also echoed his infamous 2015 speech — when he first announced his candidacy — in which he called immigrants coming into the country via Mexico “murderers,” “murderers,” “rapists,” and “terrorists.”
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The twice-impeached former president has repeated many of the same lies and misinformation about the 2020 election that he has lost since losing to Biden in November of 2020.
Trump falsely claimed to have “won the general election twice” and alleged that Democrats are “great at stealing elections,” lines that elicited applause from his audience at the New Hampshire Republican State Committee in Salem. There was no reliable evidence of widespread voter fraud in 2024.
The rallies come as former political allies of Trump, such as the former vice president, contemplate their own campaigns for the Republican nomination in 2024. Mike PenceFormer ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haleyand former foreign minister Mike Pompeo.
Trump also spoke with reporters on his way from New Hampshire to South Carolina, telling reporters he spoke with Haley – the former governor of South Carolina. He said she called him this week to tell him she was considering running against him. Trump said he told Haley she “should do it.”
In the plane’s press address, Trump took aim at the potential candidate who might pose the greatest threat to his third bid for the White House: Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis.
“He got elected,” Trump said of DeSantis, whose anti-COVID-19 policies and hardline conservative stance on social issues got him. Favorite In primaries like New Hampshire.
“Ron wouldn’t be governor without me,” Trump said.
During the invite-only event in South Carolina, Trump unveiled his campaign leadership team in the state, which includes Gov. Henry McMaster and Sen. Lindsey Graham — both of whom have already endorsed Trump’s re-election.
During his nearly 50-minute speech, Trump addressed about 200 conservatives and stressed that Republicans would take back the White House in 2024.
“With your vote next year. We will do it again, and I will do it again. This will not be my campaign. This will be our campaign,” Trump said.
Many of the attendees of the South Carolina event were Trump supporters who were willing to commit to him again by casting a vote for him.
“He’s got personality. He’s got ethics. He’s got a business attitude. He’s humble. He cares about people,” Robin Holley told CBS News.
Holly is a Trump supporter in South Carolina who is part of an online group called Trump Girls.
“We just need to get Trump back out there to straighten us out again, get us back on track, and then get Santos back in office,” she said.
Other attendees were less upbeat, saying they were there to hear what Trump said for the purpose of examining whether he really was the right candidate.
“My voice has to be heard and that’s what I’m going with,” Ross F. Ward told CBS News.
Ward said he has been a supporter of Trump in the past, but acknowledged that the former president made mistakes.
“He needs to humiliate himself,” Ward said. “If you want to lead the free world, Donald Trump, you have to humble yourself and admit when you made a mistake.”
Trump was The first to isolate by the House of Representatives in 2019 over allegations that he betrayed the country for his own political benefit and obstructed a congressional investigation into his actions.
In January 2021, has been isolated Again, this time for his role in the January 6 insurrection at the Capitol.
Attorney General Merrick Garland Eye Special Counsel to oversee the investigation into documents marked classified that were seized by the FBI last August at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago home. It also has a special grand jury in Georgia investigated Efforts by Trump and his allies to overturn his loss in the 2020 election in that state.
