Former President Trump said "Crooked Joe Biden" poses a "threat to democracy," vowing to "crush" him at the ballot box in November 2024 and to "settle our unfinished business."
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Trump hosted a campaign rally in Manchester, New Hampshire Thursday, welcoming a crowd of nearly 2,000 people, and touting more than 50 endorsements from Granite State officials, while reacting to Biden’s pre-taped re-election campaign announcement.
"Joe Biden officially announced that he will seek four more disastrous years in the White House," Trump said, vowing to "rescue America" from another four years of "disastrous" Democratic policies.
Trump, who currently is leading the Republican 2024 presidential primary field by more than 30 points in a number of new polls this week, including the latest Fox News poll, shifted to make a "major announcement."
"I will be retiring the name ‘crooked’ from Hillary Clinton," Trump said. "And I’m going to give her a new name—I don’t know, like maybe lovely Hillary or beautiful Hillary—but I’m going to retire the name ‘Crooked’ so that we can use the name for Joe Biden, because he’ll be known from now on as Crooked Joe Biden."
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Trump joked that Clinton is "out there someplace celebrating" the retirement of his 2016 nickname for her, and added that there has "never been anyone in the history of American politics so crooked or dishonest as Joe Biden."
"And the press absolutely refuses to report it," Trump said, slamming Biden for appearing to use a cheat sheet at a White House press conference Wednesday afternoon showing a reporter’s name and pre-planned question.
Trump, pointing to Biden’s re-election campaign announcement and his comments that "MAGA pose a threat to democracy," stressed that "there is no threat there."
"No," Trump said. "It is Biden who poses the threat to democracy because he is grossly incompetent, he has no idea what he is doing and basically, he doesn’t have a clue, and that is a very bad position to put our country in."
He added: "Our country is in a very, very dangerous position right now. Very, very dangerous."
Trump said the United States is a nation "in serious decline" that has "lost its way."
"We are led by a hopeless person, but we will win in 2024 and make America great again," Trump said. "We can do it. It’s not too late."
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"He wants to finish the job of destroying our country," Trump said. "But on that, he's actually very close—he is very close to finishing the job."
He added: "We’re going to beat them at the ballot box and we’re going to settle our unfinished business. It is unfinished."
Trump also said he is the "only candidate" who can "prevent World War III," vowing to settle the "horrible" war between Russia and Ukraine "before I even arrive at the Oval Office, shortly after I win the presidency."
Trump also said China’s President Xi Jinping would not invade Taiwan under a Trump presidency.
"I was the only president in decades who didn’t start a war," Trump said. "You know, everyone said, ‘oh, he’s going to start a war’ because I had that personality to start a war—remember that?"
He added: "I used my personality so that we didn’t have to have wars," Trump said. "And I got out of wars, including knocking the hell out of ISIS."
The crowd erupted in chants of "we love Trump."
"I love you too," he said. "That’s why I am doing this. I had a nice life. I didn’t have to go before grand juries every time I fly over a state—if I fly over a state that happens to be Democrat-run, they sent me a subpoena to go before a grand jury. These people are sick— they’re weaponizing that stuff."
Trump’s campaign event was one of the first since he pleaded not guilty to 34 felony counts of falsifying business records as part of Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s years-long investigation.
The latest Fox News Poll, released late Wednesday, has Trump leading the Republican presidential primary field with 53% support.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis stood at 21%, former Vice President Mike Pence at 6%, Former Amb. Nikki Haley at 4%, Vivek Ramaswamy at 3%, and Sen. Tim Scott and former Rep.Liz Cheney at 2% each. Greg Abbott, Chris Christie, Larry Elder, Chris Sununu and Glenn Youngkin garner 1% apiece. Asa Hutchinson, Kristi Noem and Francis Suarez get less than 1%.
Trump used his speech to lay out a number of his proposed policies--including restoring the economy, securing the border, holding China accountable for COVID, upholding the Second Amendment, "restoring" free speech, keeping "men out of women's sports, and prohibiting "child sexual mutilation in all 50 states," among other topics.
"This is what we must do to save our country from destruction," Trump said. "2024 is the final battle."
He added: "If we don't take over, we’re not going to have a country anymore."
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