Donald Trump: real estate developer, real estate mogul, billionaire, former president, impeached, Republican favorite and now “maverick.”
He gave himself the new title Saturday as he laid out his nightmarish vision of what a second Biden term would look like.
It’s part of what his advisers say is a pivot to attack President Joe Biden, as Nikki Haley, his last remaining rival in the race for the Republican nomination, heads for certain defeat in his home state of South Carolina. later on Saturday.
‘A vote for Trump is your ticket back to freedom. “It’s your passport out of tyranny, and it’s your only escape route from Joe Biden and his gang to hell,” he told a crowd of admirers at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) held outside Washington DC. .
“Today I stand before you not only as your past and, hopefully, future president, but also as a proud political dissident. I am a dissident.’
Former President Donald Trump described himself as a “maverick” as he laid out his nightmarish vision of what a second Biden term would look like Saturday at a gathering of conservatives.
Trump supporters recited the Pledge of Allegiance before the former president took the stage.
Trump, who faces four criminal trials, compared himself last week to Alexei Navalny, the Russian opposition leader who died in a Siberian penal colony.
It may sound outlandish, but the idea has gained traction among supporters, who refer to people jailed for their role in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol as “political hostages” and who believe Trump is being victim of an “armed attack.” ‘ Justice Department.
Attendees could even play on a January 6-themed pinball machine, which promotes various right-wing conspiracy theories about the day.
On Saturday, Trump addressed the issue that he was the victim of a witch hunt.
“I would rather lose my freedom than surrender to this group of fascist thugs, tyrants and scoundrels,” he said.
And he added that a Biden victory in November would bring millions more immigrants and skyrocket street crime.
“Four years ago I told you that if corrupt Joe Biden got to the White House, our borders would be abolished,” he said. ‘Our middle class would be decimated, our communities would be plagued by bloody chaos and violent crime.
‘We were right about everything.
‘So, believe me when I offer another warning… If corrupt Joe Biden and his thugs win in 2024, the worst is yet to come. “Our country will sink to levels that were unimaginable.”
‘So, believe me when I offer another warning… If corrupt Joe Biden and his thugs win in 2024, the worst is yet to come. Our country will sink to levels that were unimaginable’
Trump explained in detail the nightmare he sees if Joe Biden wins another four-year term
There was standing room only at the back of the room as Trump addressed a packed crowd.
Trump is expected to easily beat Nikki Haley in the South Carolina primary on Saturday. His advisers say it will be the last time he focuses on her and will instead focus on the race with Biden.
Polls suggest South Carolina voters will give Trump a big boost on Saturday. An average maintained by the website FiveThirtyEight suggests the former president could win by a 30-point margin in the state where Haley served as governor.
She has vowed to keep fighting in the race no matter what and has continued to attack the favorite.
Trump, 77, who has already scored convincing victories in Iowa, New Hampshire and Nevada, is charting a different course. He’s not even scheduled to travel to Michigan on Tuesday for its primary.
Her assistants joke that if Haley wants attention she’ll have to get a job on The View or the liberal broadcaster MSNBC.
They say Trump will now focus only on the confrontation with Biden and will increase attacks on the president ahead of next month’s State of the Union address.
On Saturday he will tell the Conservatives that it is up to them to make their feelings clear and finish the work started with his election in 2016.
“Eight years later, the Swamp has rejected your righteous pleas for reform, and at the November polls, it will be you who will be held accountable,” he is expected to say.
People write on a Trump-themed bus at the Conservative Political Action Conference, CPAC 2024, at the Gaylord National Resort & Convention Center, Maryland
“The more the corrupt establishment tries to stop us, the more we know that the day is near when we will be free from its clutches forever.”
Specifically, he will ask CPAC attendees to imagine inflation after another four years of Biden. And he will ask you to imagine Biden’s fitness for office when the 81-year-old is another four years older.
“This is what is at stake in these elections,” he will say. Our country is being destroyed and the only one standing between you and its destruction is me.
With your vote, you will tell your followers: “We will throw out Bidenomics and restore Maganomy.”
Trump was in South Carolina on Friday night, making his speech to voters there on the eve of the election.
“We’re not too worried about tomorrow,” he said. “We want to aim for November 5.”