Former US President Donald Trump won the New Hampshire primary, dealing a blow to his only remaining major rival Nikki Haley and cementing his status as the likely candidate for the Republican Party | Photo: Reuters
Former President Donald Trump further escalated his immigration rhetoric on Saturday, baselessly accusing President Joe Biden of waging a “conspiracy to overthrow the United States of America” as he campaigned ahead of the Super Tuesday primaries.
Trump has a long history of attempting to dial back lines of attack on his rivals in an effort to reduce their impact. Biden has portrayed Trump as a threat to democracy, pointing to the former president’s efforts to overturn the outcome of the 2020 election. Those efforts culminated in the attack on the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021, when his supporters attempted to halt the peaceful transition of power.
Trump, who has responded by calling Biden “the real threat to democracy” and has claimed without evidence that Biden is responsible for the charges he faces, turned to Biden’s border policies on Saturday, charging that “Joe Biden makes every day gives aid and comfort to foreign enemies of the United States.”
“Biden’s conduct at our border is, by definition, a conspiracy to overthrow the United States of America,” he continued in Greensboro, North Carolina. voters and establish a new power base that will give them control for generations.”
Similar arguments have long been made by those who claim that Democrats are promoting illegal immigration to weaken the power of white voters as part of a racist conspiracy once limited to the far right. influence of white people.
Trump drew on the theory again at his rally later in Virginia, saying of the migrants: “They’re trying to register them to get them to vote in the next election.”
“Trump is once again projecting in an attempt to distract the American people from the fact that he rejected the fairest and strictest border security bill in decades because he believed it would help his campaign. Sad,” Biden campaign spokesman Ammar Moussa said in a statement.
Trump’s campaign stops came three days before Super Tuesday, with elections in 16 states, including North Carolina and Virginia, where thousands of enthusiastic supporters gathered for an evening rally in downtown Richmond. The primaries will be the biggest voting day of the year ahead of November’s general election, which is shaping up as a likely 2020 rematch between Trump and Biden.
Nikki Haley, Trump’s last major rival, also campaigned in North Carolina. Speaking to reporters after her event in Raleigh, about 80 miles away, the former U.N. ambassador objected to her plans after Super Tuesday.
“We will continue and we will continue to push,” she said, arguing that a majority of Americans do not want Biden or Trump as the country’s leader.
Much of Trump’s speech in North Carolina focused on the many criminal charges he faces. Although the former president successfully turned his legal troubles into a powerful rallying cry in the primaries, it is unclear how his message of dismay will resonate with the more moderate voters who will likely decide the general election.
“I stand before you today not only as your former and hopefully future president, but also as a proud political dissident and a public enemy of a rogue regime,” Trump said, railing against what he called an “anti-democratic machine.”
At both rallies, Trump played a recording of “Justice for All,” the version of the Star-Spangled Banner he collaborated on with a group of defendants imprisoned for their alleged role in the January 2021 insurrection, whom he calls “hostages.” .”
As he focuses on the general election, Trump has painted an apocalyptic vision of the country under Biden, especially on the issue of immigration, which was the animating issue of his 2016 campaign and which he has seized upon again as the US faces a crisis . record influx of migrants at the border.
Trump and Biden both visited the US-Mexico border on Thursday to highlight their differing approaches to the issue.
On Saturday, Trump conjured up images of Biden turning “public schools into migrant camps” and “the US into a crime-ridden, disease-ridden dumping ground, and that’s what they’re doing.” He also spoke at length about the murder of Laken Riley, a 22-year-old nursing student whose alleged killer is a Venezuelan man who entered the U.S. illegally and was allowed to stay to pursue his immigration case.
Research has shown that native U.S. residents are more likely to be arrested for violent crimes than people who are in the country illegally, but Trump has seized on several high-profile incidents, including a recent Times video of a group of migrants arguing with police. Square.
“No more innocent American lives should be lost to immigrant crime,” Trump said.
Trump, who has repeatedly attacked Biden’s intelligence and mental acuity, has been sensitive to questions about his own acuity after confusing Haley with Nancy Pelosi and Biden with former President Barack Obama during previous meetings.
Trump has tried to answer any questions lately by insisting he is deliberately exchanging names.
“I do that because you know it makes a point. We understand that, right? Because many people say he runs the country. Personally, I don’t think so,” Trump said early during his appearance in Virginia.
(Only the headline and image of this report may have been reworked by Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is automatically generated from a syndicated feed.)
First print: March 3, 2024 | 7:49 am IST