GREENVILLE, NC – Former President Donald Trump on Saturday called on Republicans to support candidates who share his values in next year’s midterm election as he enters a more active phase of his post-presidential life .
The former Republican president has let the possibility of another presidential candidacy hang in 2024, but he has vowed to be active first in helping his allies’ election campaigns in next year’s fight for control. of Congress.
“America’s survival depends on our ability to elect Republicans at all levels from the midterm elections next year,” said Donald Trump.
Donald Trump made his comments during a speech to hundreds of Republican officials and activists gathered for the North Carolina Republicans Convention. He spoke at the opening of the convention in what is expected to be the start of a new series of gatherings and public events. Absent from office for more than four months and banned from his favorite social media accounts, the former president hopes to use such events to make his voice heard ahead of another possible presidential race.
His advisers are already planning subsequent appearances in Ohio, Florida, Alabama and Georgia to help bolster Republican candidates and energize voters.
Unlike huge gatherings, as he filled sports arenas when he was President, Donald Trump faced a crowd of several hundred North Carolina Republicans seated at tables inside the Greenville Convention Center on Saturday night. . Tens of thousands more followed his speech on social media.
Guest briefly on stage during her remarks, Donald Trump’s daughter-in-law Lara Trump, who is from North Carolina, announced that she would not be running for the Senate due to family obligations.
“I say no for now, not no forever,” said Lara Trump.
Minutes later, Donald Trump announced his support for Representative Ted Budd during the state’s Republican primary, slapping former Gov. Pat McCrory, who criticized Donald Trump’s lies about the 2020 election.
“You cannot choose people who have already lost two races and who do not stand up for our values,” said Donald Trump.
Donald Trump devoted much of his remarks to denouncing the administration of President Joe Biden, which he called “the most radical left administration in history.”
“As we meet tonight, our country is being destroyed before our eyes,” he said.
Democratic National Committee spokesman Ammar Moussa shot Donald Trump in a statement released ahead of his speech.
“More than 400,000 American deaths, millions of lost jobs and dangerous rhetoric are apparently not enough for Republicans to break with a losing president that has cost them the White House, Senate and House,” said Ammar Moussa.
While Donald Trump has had to redouble his efforts to make his voice heard since leaving office, he remains a leading force in the Republican Party. A recent national poll from Quinnipiac University found that 66% of Republicans would like to see him run for office, although the same number of Americans overall said they would rather he did not.
–
