TOI World Desk
Donald Trump held a campaign rally on Sunday, his first since narrowly escaping an assassination attempt last week. He mocked Democrats and compared former Democratic house speaker Nancy Pelosi to a “dog,” while also attacking President Joe Biden and repeating false claims about various issues.
Here are five key takeaways from his speech in rally:
Claims of rigged election resurfaced
The recently held Republican National Convention saw Trump downplaying false claims that the 2020 election was stolen from him.However, during his return to the campaign trail on Sunday night, Trump did not hold back.
“The Radical Left Democrats rigged the presidential election in 2020 and we’re not going to allow them to rig the presidential election in 2024,” he declared, making another reference to voter fraud.
“We want a landslide that is too big to rig,” he added later.
Trump urged early voters to “follow your vote” and claimed that in 2020, some states were “shoveling ballots into wheelbarrows, moving them around.”
The crowd cheered as he called on them to “Fight, fight, fight.”
Trump denounced extremist label
Trump reiterated his disapproval of Project 2025, a manifesto opponents describe as an authoritarian, right-wing agenda.
“The other side is going around trying to make me sound extreme … I’m not an extremist at all,” he complained.
He described the Heritage Foundation‘s blueprint to reshape the federal government as the work of “the radical right… they’re seriously extreme,” claiming, “I don’t know what the hell it is.”
Trump said that the notion of him being a “threat to democracy” is “misinformation.”
“Last week, I took a bullet for democracy,” he said.
‘Stupid’ Biden
Trump criticized Biden’s candidacy, highlighting concerns within the Democratic Party about Biden’s age, as some believe that at 81, he is too old to serve another term.
“They have no idea who their candidate is … Sort of interesting, this guy goes and he gets the votes and now they want to take it away. That’s democracy,” Trump said in Michigan.
He claimed that former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi had turned on Biden “like a dog.”
Trump called Biden “stupid” and “a low-IQ individual,” and also criticized Vice President Kamala Harris—who could succeed Biden if he steps aside—as “crazy.”
Praise for autocrats
Trump highlighted his relationships with global autocrats, claiming that his rapport with North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un made the United States safer.
“All he wants to do is buy nuclear weapons and make them,” he said of Kim. “I said, just relax, chill. You’ve got enough. You got, you got so much nuclear weapons, so much, I said, just relax… let’s go to a baseball game.”
Trump praised Hungarian President Viktor Orban as a “very powerful leader” and asserted that, had he (Trump) been the US leader, Russian President Vladimir Putin would never have invaded Ukraine in 2022.
He mentioned receiving a “beautiful note” from Chinese President Xi Jinping after the assassination attempt, calling Xi a “great guy.”
Trump told reporters that Xi is “a brilliant man. He controls 1.4 billion people with an iron fist.”
Tough stance on ‘illegal’ immigration
Trump issued numerous threats against illegal migrants, describing an “invasion” at the US border and suggesting that Democrats were allowing it to secure votes.
Trump said that if he returns to office, he’ll launch the “largest deportation operation in the history of our country.”
“When I return to the White House, we will stop the plunder, rape, slaughter, and destruction of our American suburb cities,” he declared.
“We’re going to get the bad ones out. We’re going to get them out immediately. It’s not going to take long.”
He vowed to “crush migrant crime” and accused countries like Venezuela of “dumping their criminals into the United States of America,” asserting that “we’re not going to take it anymore.”
(With agency inputs)
Here are five key takeaways from his speech in rally:
Claims of rigged election resurfaced
The recently held Republican National Convention saw Trump downplaying false claims that the 2020 election was stolen from him.However, during his return to the campaign trail on Sunday night, Trump did not hold back.
“The Radical Left Democrats rigged the presidential election in 2020 and we’re not going to allow them to rig the presidential election in 2024,” he declared, making another reference to voter fraud.
“We want a landslide that is too big to rig,” he added later.
Trump urged early voters to “follow your vote” and claimed that in 2020, some states were “shoveling ballots into wheelbarrows, moving them around.”
The crowd cheered as he called on them to “Fight, fight, fight.”
Trump denounced extremist label
Trump reiterated his disapproval of Project 2025, a manifesto opponents describe as an authoritarian, right-wing agenda.
“The other side is going around trying to make me sound extreme … I’m not an extremist at all,” he complained.
He described the Heritage Foundation‘s blueprint to reshape the federal government as the work of “the radical right… they’re seriously extreme,” claiming, “I don’t know what the hell it is.”
Trump said that the notion of him being a “threat to democracy” is “misinformation.”
“Last week, I took a bullet for democracy,” he said.
‘Stupid’ Biden
Trump criticized Biden’s candidacy, highlighting concerns within the Democratic Party about Biden’s age, as some believe that at 81, he is too old to serve another term.
“They have no idea who their candidate is … Sort of interesting, this guy goes and he gets the votes and now they want to take it away. That’s democracy,” Trump said in Michigan.
He claimed that former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi had turned on Biden “like a dog.”
Trump called Biden “stupid” and “a low-IQ individual,” and also criticized Vice President Kamala Harris—who could succeed Biden if he steps aside—as “crazy.”
Praise for autocrats
Trump highlighted his relationships with global autocrats, claiming that his rapport with North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un made the United States safer.
“All he wants to do is buy nuclear weapons and make them,” he said of Kim. “I said, just relax, chill. You’ve got enough. You got, you got so much nuclear weapons, so much, I said, just relax… let’s go to a baseball game.”
Trump praised Hungarian President Viktor Orban as a “very powerful leader” and asserted that, had he (Trump) been the US leader, Russian President Vladimir Putin would never have invaded Ukraine in 2022.
He mentioned receiving a “beautiful note” from Chinese President Xi Jinping after the assassination attempt, calling Xi a “great guy.”
Trump told reporters that Xi is “a brilliant man. He controls 1.4 billion people with an iron fist.”
Tough stance on ‘illegal’ immigration
Trump issued numerous threats against illegal migrants, describing an “invasion” at the US border and suggesting that Democrats were allowing it to secure votes.
Trump said that if he returns to office, he’ll launch the “largest deportation operation in the history of our country.”
“When I return to the White House, we will stop the plunder, rape, slaughter, and destruction of our American suburb cities,” he declared.
“We’re going to get the bad ones out. We’re going to get them out immediately. It’s not going to take long.”
He vowed to “crush migrant crime” and accused countries like Venezuela of “dumping their criminals into the United States of America,” asserting that “we’re not going to take it anymore.”
(With agency inputs)