UNITED STATES: Former US President Donald Trump, who has been embroiled in a series of controversies, often claiming the US voting system is rigged and widespread voting fraud has occurred since his 2020 election defeat to Democrat Joe Biden, launched a bid on Tuesday to regain the presidential seat in 2024, forestalling other Republican rivals.
Trump, who is likely to engage in another standoff with incumbent leader Joe Biden on the next presidential trail, made his announcement at his posh Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida a week after Republicans failed to deliver on their promises of a so-called “red wave” in the midterm elections.
In a speech lasting over an hour, Trump addressed a jubilant crowd of hundreds of supporters in a lavish ballroom decked with chandeliers and lined with giant American flags.
“In order to make America great again, I am tonight announcing my candidacy for president of the United States,” Trump said to the phone-waving crowd, which included family members, donors, and former staffers, as the room echoed with thunderous claps and jovial cheering.
Instead of the usual name-calling tirade that he normally engages in to defame his opponent, Trump opted for a critique of the Biden administration and gave a brutally honest review of the Democrat’s policies as being rooted in his own time in office.
“Two years ago, we were a great nation, and soon we will be a great nation again,” he said.
However, in the typical Trumpian manner, the former President decided to shift the mood of the crowd into glaring self-awareness, denouncing migrants—“We’re being poisoned”—and portraying American cities as crime-ridden “cesspools of blood.”
He promised he would push for the drug penalty for drug dealers and also pledged to protect their interests and rehire members of the military who had been dismissed for refusing to get the COVID-19 shot.
Trump did not use his speech to revive any previous false claims of voter fraud in 2020 and did not mention the violent attempt made by his enraged protesters on January 6, 2021, at the US Capitol to prevent Congress from certifying Biden’s victory.
Trump’s announcement comes at a crucial time when other Republican presidential hopefuls like Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin, Texas Governor Greg Abbott, former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, former Vice President Mike Pence, and Florida Governor Ron DeSantis are in line for the 2024 presidential bid.
Trump was highly active in the recent midterm elections, recruiting and promoting his Republican co-patriots, who echo his claims of widespread voter fraud in the 2020 election.
However, his candidates in key swing states lost the election, prompting prominent Republicans to defame Trump and urge the party to move on from him.
Control of the House of Representatives remains up in the air, but Republicans are on track to win a razor-thin majority.
Trump, 76, is the second US president to run again for non-consecutive terms after Grover Cleveland, whose second run ended in 1897.
Incumbent leader Joe Biden said he intends to run but will confirm his decision by early next year.
Meanwhile, an exit poll recorded the popularity degree of each president: while seven out of 10 midterm voters expressed views that the unpopular Biden not run again, six expressed an unfavourable opinion of Trump.
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