Trump claims he got ‘200 million’ votes in 2020 and takes aim at AOC, McConnell at Ohio rally

Donald Trump boasted of his popularity, saying candidates are ‘kissing’ [his] a**’ to get his approval at his meeting in Ohio on Saturday night.

His speech was also filled with vitriol to political enemies on both sides of the aisle from Democrats running for Congress to Senate GOP leader Mitch McConnell

The ex-president also fueled the crowd with another hint that he wants to run back to the White House in 2024, telling supporters “we’re going to take the White House back.”

Wading into the culture wars, he also said at one point, “We don’t want them teaching our kids transgender without parental consent.”

“I really believe it’s 200 million people we’re talking about, not 75 million, which is a record in our country’s history for a sitting president,” Trump told supporters after accusing the Biden administration of arming the Justice Department when the FBI raided Mar-a-Lago.

“Not the 75 million people who voted — I think it’s much more than that.”

The former president also appeared to have reports of growing concern among the incumbent GOP over the medium-term eligibility of Trump’s more fringe candidates.

He was targeting suggestions that Ohio Senate candidate JD Vance is trying to distance himself from Trump in order to appear more moderate. He won the battlefield from President Joe Biden by a margin of eight points.

“JD kisses me, he wants my support,” Trump said of Vance, who attended and spoke at the rally. ‘I am 18 points ahead. If I was 18 points behind, he wouldn’t want my support.’

Trump said Republican Senate candidate JD Vance ‘kissed me’ while Vance was steps away

Trump’s love of theater was fully manifested by the end of his one-hour and forty-minute speech when his speech was accompanied by a cinematic composition that played as the ex-president expressed his views on the state of the country and a brighter future. promised.

“We are a nation that has lost its way, but we will not let this continue,” he said as the music swelled. “Two years ago we were a nation and soon we will be a great nation again.”

“My fellow citizens, this incredible journey we are on together has only just begun, and it is time to start talking again about greatness for our country.”

It comes as the election continues to exacerbate divisions within the Republican Party between Trump-led factions and Senate GOP leader Mitch McConnell.

“Mitch McConnell should be on the ball” to halt inflation, the ex-president said, adding that the Senate minority leader is “like a Democrat.”

He later took aim again at his favorite Republican punching bag, declaring, “Mitch McConnell is a disgrace, and I hope you do something about it, JD.”

Trump’s calls to remove McConnell from the leadership role he long held have largely fallen on deaf ears so far — but multiple Senate hopefuls, backed by the ex-president, have indicated they are willing to stand up against the Kentucky legislature.

He also saved anger for Democrats, mocking New York Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez over the Green New Deal proposal she led.

Trump said his fellow New Yorker was a “poor student” in college and “not taking any environmental courses.”

“Other than that, she knows a lot about what’s going on,” he said. “She’s got a good line of crap, I’ll tell you that.”

Trump took the stage shortly before 8 p.m. on Saturday night.

His speech in November saw the former commander in chief jump back and forth between various grievances about political enemies and Democrats running for Congress.

The crowd, which had been noticeably thin for much of the evening, poured out just before the former president was due to take the stage.

His lineup of speakers, four hopeful Congressmen and House Representatives Bill Johnson and Jim Jordan, were joined by Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene for a previously unannounced speech.