Trump opens fire on foes with hint for 2024
Taking the stage for the first time since leaving office, former US president Donald Trump called for GOP unity, even as he exacerbated intraparty divisions by attacking fellow Republicans and promoting lies about the election in a speech that made clear he intends to remain a dominant political force.
Speaking on Sunday at the Conservative Political Action Conference, where he has been hailed as a returning hero, Trump blasted his successor, President Joe Biden, and tried to lay out a vision for the future of the GOP that revolves firmly around him, despite his loss in November.
“Do you miss me yet?” Trump said after taking the stage to cheers from the supportive crowd.
Trump, in a two-hour speech, tried to downplay the civil war gripping the party over the extent to which Republicans should embrace him, even as he unfurled an enemies list, calling out by name the 10 House of Representatives Republicans and seven GOP senators who voted to impeach or convict him for inciting the US Capitol riot on Jan 6.
While he insisted the division was merely a spat “between a handful of Washington, establishment political hacks and everybody else, all over the country”, Trump had a message for the incumbents who had dared to cross him: “Get rid of them all.”
The conference, held this year in Orlando instead of the Washington suburbs to evade COVID-19 restrictions, served as a tribute to Trump and Trumpism, complete with a golden statue in his likeness on display. Speakers, including many potential 2024 hopefuls, argued that the party must embrace the former president and his followers, even after the deadly insurrection at the Capitol.
Trump continued to repeat what Democrats have dubbed the “big lie”, calling the election “rigged” and insisting that he won in November, even though he lost by more than 7 million ballots.
It is highly unusual for past US presidents to publicly criticize their successors in the months after leaving office.
Not Trump.
He delivered a sharp rebuke of what he framed as the new administration’s first month of failures, especially Biden’s approach to immigration and the border.
“Joe Biden has had the most disastrous first month of any president in modern history,” Trump said.
Expected criticism
White House press secretary Jen Psaki had brushed off the expected criticism last week. “We’ll see what he says, but our focus is certainly not on what president Trump is saying at the CPAC,” she told reporters.
Aside from criticizing Biden, Trump used the speech to crown himself the future of the Republican Party, even as many leaders argue they must move in a new, less divisive direction after Republicans lost not just the White House, but both chambers of Congress.
Though Trump has flirted with the idea of creating a third party, he pledged on Sunday to remain part of “our beloved” GOP.
Trump did not use his speech to announce plans to run again, but he repeatedly teased the prospect as he predicted a Republican would win back the White House in 2024.