The former president has consistently painted a misleading picture of his years in power, recalling the absence of world peace, secure borders and a strong economy.
Donald Trump’s announcement that he will run for president in 2024 was met with joy, consternation and derision across the political spectrum.
Making the long-awaited announcement at his Mar-a-Lago hotel in Florida on Tuesday night, Trump made comments that would sound familiar enough to anyone who has seen one of his many crusade rallies. As president in early 2021, Trump painted an optimistic and misleading picture of a country that had established secure borders, a strong economy and global peace.
Trump largely ignored the global pandemic that explained his final year as president and killed more than 400,000 Americans before resigning. He claimed that the country had gone decades without war while he was president, even though the war in Afghanistan was still ongoing at the end of his term. And Trump made the baseless claim that the U. S. -Mexico border had been “erased” since Joe Biden took office.
Trump used those constantly exaggerated and false-talking problems to advocate for a third presidential bid.
“Two years ago, we were a wonderful country and soon we will be a wonderful country again,” Trump said. “To make America wonderful and excellent again, I pronounce tonight my candidacy for president of the United States. “
The announcement was celebrated through Trump’s staunchest allies, who continued with him even after he sparked a fatal insurgency at the U. S. Capitol. U. S. on January 6.
“If President Trump continues in this tone and conveys this message consistently, it will be hard to beat,” said Lindsey Graham, a Republican senator from South Carolina. Winning track for him in the primary and general elections. “
But Republicans’ disappointing performance in last week’s midterm elections may contradict Graham’s self-confident assessment of Trump’s prospects. Tuesday night’s speech. In the Senate, Democrats have already secured two more years of majority power, and may even get a seat depending on the effects of the runoff in Georgia next month.
Addressing a friendly crowd on Tuesday, Trump boasted of a midterm success rate of 232 wins and 22 losses, ignoring the fact that all 22 losses came in some of the year’s back-to-back election. Trump’s Senate picks like Mehmet Oz of Pennsylvania and Don Bolduc of New Hampshire lost races that may have helped Republicans regain the majority. Those who accepted Trump’s lies about widespread fraud in the 2020 election, such as Arizona gubernatorial candidates Kari Lake and Don Mastriano of Pennsylvania, performed poorly last Tuesday. .
“I think this is necessarily the third election in a row that Donald Trump has loaded us up the race, and it’s like 3 strikes, you’re eliminated,” Larry Hogan, Maryland’s incumbent Republican governor and common Trump critic, told CNN. Sunday.
Never the kind who settles for duty (or even concedes) defeat, Trump warned that Republican candidates had lost because Americans still didn’t feel the sting of near-record inflation and economic uncertainty.
Time will tell if this pessimistic message will resonate with voters, but Democrats wasted no time in reminding Americans what they might not have liked about Trump’s presidency. The President-in-Office himself joined the pile. Even before Trump finished his remarks, Joe Biden shared a video on Twitter in which he notes that his predecessor saw an overall decline in jobs and tried to overturn the caregiving law.
“Donald Trump has let America down,” Biden tweeted.
A senior Biden White House official also mocked Mar-a-Lago’s speech as boring, a complaint that resonated with a former member of Trump’s own administration.
“This is one of the least forceful and inspiring speeches I’ve heard from Trump,” said Sarah Matthews, who left the White House after the Jan. 6 uprising. “Even the crowd gets bored. It’s not exactly what you need when you announce a presidential race.
It’s one of the least forceful and inspiring speeches I’ve heard from Trump. Even the crowd gets bored. It’s not exactly what you need when you announce a presidential race.