Former President Donald Trump received a standing ovation at a Republican Party rally in Las Vegas on Saturday, but several conservative leaders have criticized him for recent disappointing results in the midterm elections. In her first speech since announcing her 2024 White House candidacy on Tuesday, she praised his tenure and commended his donors and members of the Republican Jewish Coalition, which will hold its annual meeting through Sunday in Las Vegas , Nevada.
The former president refused to take responsibility for the election results of the Republicans, and in particular of his children, at the “midterms” of November 8. He, on the other hand, said the Republican Party was “much bigger and more powerful than it was before my arrival.” On Saturday, he again questioned Democrat Joe Biden’s presidential victory in 2020. “The election was rigged,” said the billionaire who spoke via video, but the public, which had warmly welcomed him, did not react to these remarks.
He was added to the speaker list for the Republican Jewish Coalition’s annual meeting at the last minute. His participation aroused expectations because several of his detractors who had preceded him had invited him to turn the page and bet on a “strong leadership”. “I have great politics for the Republican Party. Stop supporting the crazy candidates who are ineligible in our primaries,” New Hampshire (Northeast) Gov. Chris Sununu said, without naming Trump.
We have to stop now
Former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie was more forthright in his speech and insisted that Donald Trump be held accountable for the outcome of the midterm elections. “Donald Trump has chosen candidates with one criterion, only one. It wasn’t about their suitability, experience, wisdom or charisma. (…) But whether or not they believed the 2020 presidential election was stolen. If you believe it, I support you, otherwise I reject you,” launched Chris Christie, who spoke to the crowd a few hours before the former president.
“Well, let me tell you, that’s not what this holiday is all about. This is not what it should stand for in the future. We have to stop now. We lose because Donald Trump put himself above all else,” he warned. For his part, Maryland Governor Larry Hogan criticized Donald Trump once again in his speech Friday. “Even Trump’s most ardent supporters they say they’ve had enough (…)”, he said.
No “red wave”
In the midterm elections, the Republican Party promised a “red wave” that would purge the Democratic Party of both houses of Congress in Washington. However, Republicans only secured a narrow majority in the House of Representatives after several candidates backed by Donald Trump were defeated. This was also the case in the Senate – which remained in the hands of the Democrats – and in the governorates considered crucial.
Donald Trump was preceded on Saturday by former Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the rally was also attended by former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who served in the Trump administration and who according to observers also has presidential ambitions. “Our party needs strong leaders now more than ever. Personalities, celebrities, they’re not going to do the job,” he said Friday, without naming Donald Trump. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, also a candidate to run in the Republican primary for 2024, was triumphantly re-elected in his state, which led some conservative media to see him as the new Republican Party leader, he was expected to speak at the end of the meeting.
Donald Trump’s Twitter account restored by Elon Musk
Elon Musk, the new Twitter boss, on Saturday rehabilitated Donald Trump’s account, which was banned from the social network after the storming of the Capitol in Washington in January 2021. “People have spoken. Trump will be restored,” the imaginative entrepreneur tweeted about himself after the result of a survey launched among his subscribers. More than fifteen million responded and 51.8% voted in favor of “yes” to the return of the Republican politician to the platform. A few minutes after Elon Musk’s message, Donald Trump’s account was visible again, the last tweet dating back to January 8, 2021.
At the helm of the social network for three weeks, the multibillionaire owner of Tesla and SpaceX in particular had suggested at the launch of the poll on Friday evening that his result could influence a decision on the return or not of the former chief of declared on Twitter as he had accompanied him with the message “Vox Populi, Vox Dei” (The voice of the people is the voice of God). In the name of free speech, Friday has already reinstated several other suspended user accounts.
Shortly after completing the $44 billion acquisition of the platform in late October, the leader had assured that no major decisions on content or account reactivation would be made without the intervention of a specific board. A gesture aimed, among other things, at reassuring advertisers, the group’s main source of income. He has not publicly indicated whether this council has been established.
Trump stays on Truth Social
Twitter had banned Donald Trump on January 8, 2021, two days after his supporters stormed the Capitol, facing the “risk of further incitement to violence”. Believing that this sanction constituted “a morally bad and insane decision in the extreme”, Elon Musk hinted in May that the former Republican president could return to the platform.
While many associations, authorities and advertisers fear that the contents are no longer sufficiently moderated on the social network, giving free rein to misinformation, harassment and other abuses, the entrepreneur was expected to take turns on the topic. “You are betraying our democracy,” the president of the NAACP civil rights organization Derrick Johnson reacted on Twitter, stating that Elon Musk’s subscribers “do not represent America”.
You are failing our democracy.
Your trash poll means nothing. Did people outside the US vote? Have you reached out to marginalized communities, the targets of Trump’s rhetoric, for their input? Your followers don’t represent America.
If you run Twitter like this, God help us all. https://t.co/v8DsB9vtza
— Derrick Johnson (@DerrickNAACP) November 20, 2022
While rejoicing that Twitter is “in good hands” with Elon Musk, Donald Trump has however declared in recent days that he would remain on his Truth Social, which he launched after his expulsion from Twitter. Even if this platform, where he has 4.57 million subscribers, offers him only a small sounding board compared to Twitter where he had more than 88 million.
During a video address Saturday at the Coalition of Republican Jews rally in Las Vegas, the Republican candidate praised the initiative and Elon Musk. “I like (…). You know, he’s a hell of a character and I love a hell of a character,” he said. But now he has his own network, he later claimed. before adding, “But don’t worry, we’re not going anywhere. Social truth is special.
