Trump rips ‘radical’ Dems in 2020 launch
ORLANDO: Jabbing at the press and poking the eye of the political establishment he ran against in 2016, President Donald Trump officially kicked off his reelection campaign on Tuesday with a grievance-filled Florida rally that focused more on settling scores than laying out his agenda for a second term.
Addressing a crowd of thousands at Orlando’s Amway Centre, Mr Trump complained he had been “under assault from the very first day’’ of his presidency by a “fake news media’’ and “illegal witch hunt’’ that had tried to keep him and his supporters down.
And he painted a disturbing picture of what life would look like if he loses in 2020, accusing his critics of “un-American conduct’’ and telling the crowd that Democrats “want to destroy you and they want to destroy our country as we know it”.
“A vote for any Democrat in 2020 is a vote for the rise of radical socialism and the destruction of the American dream,’’ he said, ripping “radical” and “unhinged’’ Democrats even as he made only passing mention of any of the men and women running to replace him.
The apocalyptic language and fingerpointing made clear that Mr Trump’s 2020 campaign will probably look a whole lot like his improbably successful run three years ago. While Mr Trump’s campaign has tried to professionalise and despite two-and-a-half years occupying the Oval Office as America’s commander-in-chief, Mr Trump nonetheless remained focused on energising his base and offering himself as a political outsider running against Washington.
And he appeared eager for a rerun of 2016, spending considerable time on former Democratic rival Hillary Clinton, whose name elicited “Lock her up!” chants.A boisterous crowd of thousands of Trump supporters, many in red hats, began gathering outside the arena on Monday and spent Tuesday braving downpours and listening to a cover band as part of a “45 Fest” the campaign organised to energise the crowd.
Near the end of the rally, Mr Trump ran through a list of promises for a second term, pledging a new immigration system, new trade deals, a health care overhaul and a cure for cancer and “many diseases”, including the eradication of Aids in America.
Florida is considered a near-mustwin state for Mr Trump to hold onto the White House, and both parties have been mobilising for a fierce and expensive battle in a state that Mr Trump has visited as president more often than any other.
While Mr Trump bested Ms Clinton there in 2016, a Quinnipiac University poll released on Tuesday found early Democratic front-runner Joe Biden leading Mr Trump 50%-41%, and Vermont Sen Bernie Sanders besting him 48%-42%.