Donald Trump warned, Saturday, January 28, that the upcoming elections will be the last chance to save the United States, as he returned to election rallies in the states of New Hampshire and South Carolina, hoping to strengthen his candidacy for the White House.
Two and a half months after announcing his candidacy for the 2024 election, the former president left the gilded halls of his Florida residence for visits that owed nothing to chance.
New Hampshire and South Carolina will be among the first states to host Republican primaries in early 2024. A win would give Trump a valuable and much-needed boost into the future.
“The 2024 election is our only chance to save our country and we need a leader who is ready to do that from day one,” Trump said in Columbia, South Carolina, flanked by American flags and some of his most loyal political allies.
“We need a leader who is ready to stand up to the forces sweeping our country,” he earlier told a crowd of several hundred in the small town of Salem, New Hampshire.
But having ruled for years in the “big old party,” as the Republican Party is known, Trump (76) isn’t necessarily on conquered ground.
In New Hampshire, a state that borders Canada, many local lawmakers blame the former president for ruining Republicans’ chances in last November’s midterm elections by backing candidates seen as extremists.
“Personally, I think he’s lost a lot of his charisma and aura,” local Representative Mike Bourdice, who endorsed Trump in the 2020 election, told AFP. And now, he says he’s “willing…to consider other options” to nominate the Republican presidential nominee.
Trump said again on Saturday that the 2020 election was stolen from him while sparing no derogatory titles for his rivals.
He also promoted his record on public safety and immigration, vowing to save the country “from destruction by a corrupt, radical and self-interested political establishment”.
Although he is so far the only Republican to announce his candidacy, many in South Carolina are preparing to throw themselves into the electoral arena.
Starting with former governor Nikki Haley, who promised her supporters an announcement very soon.
In addition, several major Trump donors have publicly stated that they will not support his candidacy and will instead support the candidacy of Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, a rising star in the Republican Party, who has not officially launched the race.
Political setbacks for Trump, who is already under several judicial investigations, which may be the biggest obstacle to his candidacy.
“These are far-left prosecutors, and they are absolutely horrible people,” Trump said.
Despite these setbacks, his supporters warn of a quick burial of Trump. His fall has been announced a thousand times, but so far he has survived all the scandals.
It could also take advantage of the upcoming lifting of the suspension of its Facebook and Instagram accounts, and find a great tweeter there.