Donald Trump has teased a a 2024 presidential run saying he 'may have to do it again' during a rowdy Georgia rally where he slammed Joe Biden for 'giving up' on Ukraine and said the president should 'recuse himself' from the country altogether because of his son Hunter Biden's dealings with it.
Trump returned on Saturday to Georgia, the state that has served as ground zero for his baseless claims that the 2020 election was stolen from him and now will test his enduring influence over the Republican Party.
The former president addressed many recent issues popular with conservatives, while still revisiting many of his favorite subjects, including his successor's son.
Former U.S. President Donald Trump holds a rally in Commerce, Georgia, U.S. March 26, 2022
Hunter Biden's laptop and the Ukraine invasion
Trump took issue with what he felt was the media's praise of how President Joe Biden has dealt with the Russian invasion in Ukraine.
'We have a president that has no idea what the hell he's doing and has no idea even where he is. The fake news, they're trying to say he's acting brilliantly... Ukraine is being bombed to s**t!'
Trump added that 'Ukraine would've never happened' had he been president.
He then went on to profess vindication over the New York Times verifying the Hunter Biden laptop story and said the President Biden should have nothing to do with the country because of his son's dealings there.
'Joe Biden should recuse himself from anything having to do with Ukraine because of how much money they're getting from Ukraine,' Trump said. 'They've taken in a fortune!'
He accused President Bush of giving up Georgia, President Obama of giving up Crimea and President Biden of being prepared to give up all of Ukraine.
'I gave up nothing,' Trump declared.
'Joe Biden should recuse himself from anything having to do with Ukraine because of how much money they're getting from Ukraine,' Trump said. 'They've taken in a fortune!'
One man passes by cardboard cutouts of former President Trump and his wife and former First Lady Melania Trump
People attend a rally held by former U.S. President Donald Trump in Commerce, Georgia
Trump 2024?
Some of Trump's closest allies in Washington were at the rally, including controversial Republican Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene, who expressed a hope Trump would run again in 2024.
The president hinted heavily that he might be taking the plunge at a third run for president.
'The truth is I ran twice, I won twice and I did much better the second time,' Trump said, invoking his debunked belief that widespread voter fraud cost him the election in 2020. 'And now, we just may have to do it again.'
Trump then slammed Biden, saying that 'the five worst presidents in American history' combined 'would not have done the damage Joe Biden has done in just 15 months.'
'In just over a year, he has managed to kill, literally kill, the American dream,' Trump added. 'But do not lose hope, because with the right leadership, America will be back, greater, stronger, and more powerful than ever before.'
Trump did not specify whether he would run in 2024 but was imperative that the Republicans had to take back both houses of Congress in 2022 and that 'beautiful, breathtaking White House.'
Controversial Critical Race Theory, parental rights and women's sports
Trump went hard at some of the most recent villains in conservative circles, mainly related to education.
He decried the teaching of Critical Race Theory, saying he'd issued the first ever ban but President Biden rescinded it immediately.
'When we retake Congress, Republicans will ban Critical Race Theory in our schools, ban it in our military and ban it in every part of our federal and state governments.'
He also promised Republicans would give parents a veto over anyone teaching what he called 'far left gender ideologies' without their consent.
Trump also delved into the recent controversy over transgender women playing on women's sports teams.
Former U.S. President Donald Trump holds a rally in Commerce, Georgia, U.S. March 26, 2022
Climate Change
He also said dismissed climate change, complaining about John Kerry saying that the ocean was rising 'one hundredth of one percent over the next 300 f**king years' to some of the most riotous cheers of the speech. 'These people are crazy!'
Trump then noted he was an environmentalist 'in the truest sense' in that he wanted the cleanest water possible.
'We want clean air, we set all sorts of records during my administration, but we can destroy our country doing it.'
He then accused the air in China, Russia, Indian and Japan as being 'filthy' and saying 'that filth goes up and then it blows into our country.'
Trump then retreated to one of his oft-repeated complaints about windmills providing electricity, miming a husband not being able to watch television because there was no wind.
Trump for Speaker of the House?
Florida Representative Matt Gaetz was also in attendance, where he said he would nominate former President Trump for Speaker of the House if Republicans take back the house in November.
Gaetz came in with a fiery promise for the Georgia crowd, praising both the president and Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene, who also spoke at the rally.
'There is no greater country than America, there is no greater president than Donald J. Trump and if you don't mind me saying so, there is not a better member of Congress than Marjorie Taylor Greene!'
He then set the agenda should the Republicans take back Congress this November.
'Give us the ability to fire Nancy Pelosi, take back the majority, impeach Joe Biden and I'm gonna nominate Donald Trump for Speaker of the United States House of Representatives!'
'Well that was interesting!' Trump remarked after Gaetz finished, not appearing to take the speakership seriously.
Trump has invested significant political capital in Georgia, endorsing a slate of statewide candidates in an effort to oust Governor Brian Kemp and his allies for failing to reverse the presidential results two years ago.
Georgia's May 24 primary election will provide perhaps the clearest assessment yet of Trump's ability to play kingmaker in the 2022 elections.
It will also offer an early measure of how Republican candidates attempt to strike a balance between Trump's obsession with the 2020 election and national Republican leaders' preference to focus on President Joe Biden's record in office.
'This is a really hard test for him - and a crucial one,' said Alan Abramowitz, a political science professor at Emory University in Atlanta. 'Trump is still well liked by Republican voters, but that doesn't necessarily mean that they are going to base their choice in a primary on his endorsement.'
Former U.S. President Donald Trump throws a MAGA hat into the crowd during his rally in Georgia
Trump has popularized his 'Make America Great Again' hat since he began running for president in 2015
President Donald Trump said that Joe Biden 'doesn't know where the hell he is' and that he's 'giving up' on Ukraine and should 'recuse himself' from the country altogether because of his son Hunter Biden's dealings with it
A woman paints half of her face to support former President Trump at Saturday's Georgia rally
Supporters of former U.S. President Donald Trump listen to other Republican speakers during a rally at the Banks County Dragway
Trump's heavy involvement reflects his frustration that Kemp, and other officials, refused to overturn the results in his favor. Biden won Georgia by less than a quarter of a percentage point, becoming the first Democrat to win the state in nearly 30 years.
Polls have shown Kemp holding a comfortable lead over Trump's preferred candidate, former U.S. Senator David Perdue, despite Trump's frequent criticisms of the incumbent governor.
In addition to Perdue, Trump has endorsed U.S. Representative Jody Hice, who is challenging Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger. Raffensperger rejected Trump's demand that he alter the outcome and declared the 2020 election fair and accurate after a series of audits and reviews.
Trump also endorsed down-ballot challengers for attorney general, lieutenant governor and even insurance commissioner, in each case siding with candidates taking on officials he blames for not fighting harder to substantiate his fraud claims.
'What we're starting to see is that his endorsement does not appear so far to be giving the type of automatic bump to candidates that we've seen in the past,' said Amy Steigerwalt, a political science professor at Georgia State University.
A spokesperson for Perdue, who will speak at Saturday's rally in Commerce, a small city northeast of Atlanta, said his support would only grow as more voters become aware of Trump's endorsement.
A spokesperson for Trump did not respond to a request for comment.
Republicans worry that a split in the ranks could open the door for Democratic gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams, the voting rights activist who narrowly lost to Kemp in 2018, to win November's rematch.
Some Republicans already believe Trump's rhetoric following the November 2020 election helped cost the party twin Senate runoff elections in Georgia in January 2021, handing Democrats control of the chamber.
A spokesperson for Kemp's campaign, Tate Mitchell, said, 'Governor Kemp is focused on winning the endorsement of Georgia Republicans on May 24th and making sure Stacey Abrams is never our governor.'
Trump remains the party's leading figure, and Republican candidates from across the country continue to seek his support. But he has made clear he expects his allies to commit to his false assertion that Biden's victory in 2020 was illegitimate, a claim that has been repeatedly debunked by courts, vote audits and election officials.
Thomas Homan, former director of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), speaks during the rally
Vernon Jones, candidate for Georgia's 10th Congressional District, speaks to the rallygoers
Herschel Walker, U.S. Senate candidate and former football player at the University of Georgia, takes the stage
Former Rep. Doug Collins rests his hand in his chest during a rally held by former U.S. President Donald Trump
This event is a part of Trump's 'Save America Rally' around the United States where several current Republican candidates or politicians have been announced to speak at the event
U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) greets supporters during a rally held by former U.S. President Donald Trump in Commerce, Georgia
Georgia's gubernatorial candidate and former U.S. Senator David Perdue speaks. Perdue lost to Jon Ossoff in 2020
Georgia Lieutenant Governor Burt Jones speaks ahead of President Trump at the Commerce rally
Earlier this week, Trump rescinded his endorsement of U.S. Representative Mo Brooks for a Senate race in Alabama after Brooks told voters it was time to move on from the 2020 election.
In an interview with a conservative outlet ahead of Trump's visit, Perdue - who lost his Senate seat in 2020 - said both his and Trump's elections were 'stolen,' citing a lawsuit he has filed seeking to examine thousands of ballots in Fulton County.
County election officials have said there were no irregularities in the count.
Some Republicans, including Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell, have urged the party to put 2020 behind it and focus on Biden's performance. Historically, the party that occupies the White House has lost seats in Congress during a president's first midterm election.
Georgia Lieutenant Governor Geoff Duncan, a Republican who is not running for reelection, founded a group, GOP 2.0, aimed at moving the party beyond Trump.
The organization released an advertisement this week attacking Trump and Perdue for preferring to talk about 'conspiracy theories and past losses' rather than offering a vision for the future.
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