Donald Trump went to Waco, Texas, on Saturday night for the first formal rally of his 2024 presidential campaign. His 95-minute speech emphasized personal grievances — especially the prospective prosecution of the former president for paying hush money to a porn actress.
“Every piece of my personal life, financial life, business life, and public life has been turned upside down and dissected like no one in the history of our country,” Trump told his supporters.
Trump denies the affair with Stormy Daniels and has also denied any wrongdoing connected to payments made to Miss Daniels on his behalf.
Trump framed the investigations of him — three separate prosecutions — as the “weaponization of the justice system,” calling it “the central issue of our time.”
And he claimed the “biggest threat” to the United States isn’t China or Russia but “high-level politicians that work in the U.S. government like McConnell, Pelosi, Schumer, and Biden.”
“You will be vindicated and proud, the thugs and criminals who are corrupting our justice system will be defeated, discredited, and totally disgraced,” Trump said.
Looking to make a positive out of the investigations, Trump said, “Our opponents have done everything they can to crush our spirit and to break our will. But they failed. They’ve only made us stronger.”
He spent a little time running through a checklist of promises of what he’d do if elected. Politico:
Trump ticked through a list of campaign promises that included mandating term limits, keeping “men out of women’s sports” and ending “the invasion at the Southern border.” And he once again vowed, without articulating how, that he would end the war in Ukraine and prevent “World War 3.”
But the focus wasn’t primarily on the issues facing America, it was on the many issues facing him.
Trump saved his best mocking tone for remarks against his chief rival, Ron DeSantis. “Man, he’s dropping like a rock,” Trump said of the Florida governor. “They keep saying ‘DeSanctus’ could do well with farmers. I don’t think so. Based on polls, he’s not doing well with anything.”
Trump went on to do a dramatic re-enactment of DeSantis pleading for his endorsement in the 2018 Florida governor’s race. The former president said that after he grudgingly backed DeSantis, the candidate “became like a rocket ship” and prevailed in the primary and general election — and argued that had he not backed him, DeSantis would have never won.
That may have been true in 2018 but in DeSantis’s 2022 re-election race, Trump didn’t formally endorse DeSantis until just a few days before the election. Clearly, DeSantis didn’t need Trump’s help. The incumbent won with nearly 60% of the vote.
Trump promised to be an agent of “retribution” if re-elected as president and told the crowd, “Either the deep state destroys America or we destroy the deep state.” That kind of apocalyptic rhetoric leaves Trump open to criticism from both sides.
With three criminal investigations underway targeting him, Trump is likely to be indicted for at least one crime before the end of the year. Meanwhile, he will continue to fundraise off his legal troubles and draw crowds to listen to his cries of persecution.
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