Former President Donald J. Trump, at an event Saturday meant to promote his favored candidate in the Ohio Republican Senate primary race, delivered a freewheeling speech in which he used dehumanizing language to describe immigrants , maintained a steady stream of insults and vulgarities and predicted that the United States would never have another election if he did not win in November.
With his general election showdown against President Biden in sight, Mr. Trump has once again doubled down on the apocalyptic vision of the country that animated his third presidential campaign and energized his base in the Republican primary.
The dark outlook resurfaced throughout his speech. While discussing the U.S. economy and its auto industry, Mr. Trump promised to impose tariffs on foreign-made cars if he wins in November. He added: “Now, if I am not elected, it will be a bloodbath for everyone – it will be the least I can do. It’s going to be a bloodbath for the country.”
For nearly 90 minutes outside Dayton International Airport in Vandalia, Ohio, Mr. Trump delivered a discursive speech, filled with attacks and caustic rhetoric. He found on several occasions that he had difficulty reading the teleprompter.
The former president opened his speech by praising those serving sentences in connection with the January 6, 2021 riot at the Capitol. Mr Trump, who faces criminal charges linked to his efforts to overturn his election defeat, called them “hostages” and “incredible patriots”, praised their courage and pledged to help them s he was elected in November. He also reiterated his false claims that the 2020 election was stolen, which have been discredited by a mountain of evidence.
If he doesn’t win this year’s presidential election, Mr. Trump said, “I don’t think there will be another election, let alone a meaningful election.” »
Mr. Trump also fueled fears about the influx of migrants arriving in the United States through the southern border. As he did during his successful 2016 campaign, Mr. Trump used inflammatory and dehumanizing language to portray many migrants as threats to American citizens.
He claimed, without evidence, that other countries were emptying their prisons of “young people” and sending them across the border. “I don’t know if you call them ‘people’ in some cases,” he said. “They’re not people, in my opinion.” He then called them “animals.”
Border officials, including some who worked under the Trump administration, have said most migrants crossing the border are members of vulnerable families fleeing violence and poverty, and available data does not support the idea according to which migrants stimulate crime.
Mr. Trump only sparingly mentioned Bernie Moreno, his favored Senate candidate in Ohio and a former Cleveland car dealer. Although he enjoys the support of Mr. Trump, Mr. Moreno, whose super PAC organized Saturday’s event, has struggled to stand out in a heated Republican primary against Senator Sherrod Brown, a Democrat from Ohio this fall. Mr. Trump was redirected from a planned trip to Arizona to appear with Mr. Moreno at the last minute.
Mr. Trump has made vulgar and derogatory remarks about a number of Democrats, including those he often targets, such as Mr. Biden and Fani Willis, the Atlanta prosecutor who is overseeing his criminal case in Georgia, as well as those widely considered potential future presidential candidates. such as Governor Gavin Newsom of California and Governor JB Pritzker of Illinois.
Mr. Trump called Mr. Biden a “stupid president” multiple times and at one point called him a “son of a…” before stopping himself. He also compared Ms. Willis’s first name to a vulgarity, called Mr. Newsom “Gavin New-scum” and criticized Mr. Pritzker’s physical appearance.
The Biden campaign released a statement after the event saying Mr. Trump’s comments escalated “threats of political violence.”
“He wants another January 6, but the American people are going to give him another electoral defeat in November because they continue to reject his extremism, his penchant for violence and his thirst for revenge,” said James Singer, spokesperson. word of the Biden party. campaign.
Steven Cheung, Mr. Trump’s spokesman, clarified that Mr. Trump was talking about the auto industry and the economy, not political violence, and wrote in a statement that “crooked Joe Biden and his campaign engage in deceptive activities, out of sheer will.” -context editing.
Mr. Trump’s sharp remarks were not reserved for national politicians: He briefly took aim at one of Mr. Moreno’s primary opponents, Matt Dolan, a wealthy Ohio state senator who has skyrocketed in recent polls. Rewinding his prepared remarks, Mr. Trump said he did not know Mr. Dolan but described him as “trying to become the next Mitt Romney.”
“My attitude is that anyone who changes the name of the Cleveland Indians to the Cleveland Guardians should not be a senator,” Mr. Trump said, referring to the professional baseball team in which Mr. Dolan’s family owns a majority stake. .
When Mr. Moreno was briefly called back on stage toward the end of Mr. Trump’s remarks, he praised the former president as a “good man.” But Mr. Moreno did not explicitly remind the crowd to support him in his Senate bid on Tuesday. Mr. Trump, for his part, said Mr. Moreno was a “fantastic guy.”
Mr. Trump’s campaign speeches typically oscillate between scripted remarks and seemingly improvised digressions. On Saturday, he admitted to having difficulty reading the teleprompter as he tried to cite inflation statistics.
“Everything is in place: the chicken is in place, the bread is in place and I can’t read the damn teleprompter,” Mr. Trump said. “This bastard is moving. It’s like reading a flag moving in a 35 mile per hour wind.
Then Mr. Trump, who before his presidency was known in New York for refusing to pay his bills to a wide range of service providers, joked that he was not paying the teleprompter company.
“Then they say Trump is a bad guy, because I will say this: Don’t pay the teleprompter company,” he said to laughter from the crowd. “Don’t pay.”
