Donald Trump kicked a protester out of his rally on Saturday night and responded to questions about his mental fitness by saying his “mind is stronger now than it was 25 years ago.”
About an hour after his campaign event at Manchester’s SNHU Arena, a man in the crowd shouted at the former president: “He’s a dictator.”
“Get him out,” Trump said as security surrounded the man and removed him from the arena.
“Now we know politics is getting serious,” Trump joked. He joked that he would be dictator for “just one day” if he were elected to the White House for a second term in December.
With four days to go until the New Hampshire primary, Trump spoke to his MAGA faithful for nearly two hours. He doubled down on his attacks on Nikki Haley, brought in a group of lawmakers from her home state of South Carolina to support him, and lashed out at Ron DeSantis, joking, “I think he’s gone.”
Donald Trump praised his mental fitness to become president during his rally
A protester is escorted by police during the campaign event of Republican presidential candidate, former President Donald Trump, at the SNHU Arena Manchester
He also hit back at Haley for questioning whether he was “mentally fit” to be president after he appeared to confuse her with former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, accusing Haley of being in charge of security at the Capitol on the day of the January 6 uprising. .
“I feel like my mind is stronger now than it was 25 years ago. Is that possible?,” Trump said.
He also said he took another cognitive test in New Hampshire and “passed it.”
He spent the first part of his rally doubling down on his attacks on Nikki Haley, drawing in a group of lawmakers from her home state of South Carolina to support him, and he took some taunts at Ron DeSantis, joking, “I think he’s gone. .’
In addition to criticizing his rivals, he called Joe Biden the “worst” president in American history and ran through his laundry list of campaign promises, including protecting the southern border.
“I’m desperate for your vote,” Trump told the crowd.
He focused hardest on Haley. The former South Carolina governor has seen some movement in the polls as she campaigns in New Hampshire, even as Trump still leads by double digits.
“Almost every politician from South Carolina supports me. How do you do that when you’re governor?’ Trump lashed out at Haley, who was governor of the state for six years.
He then brought out South Carolina Governor Henry McMaster, the state’s lieutenant governor and a slew of other high-ranking officials, including the attorney general, treasurer and speaker of the House of Representatives. Joining them were state Reps. Joe Wilson, William Timmons and Russell Fry.
‘Do you know what I do? I kiss a**,” Trump said, noting that South Carolina was the next primary in the Republican presidential primary.
McMaster told the cheering crowd before officials that the group was there “for one reason.”
“You’ve heard this, those great philosophers, the Spice Girls. Tell us what you want, what you really, really want. Well, that’s what we are here. To tell you what we actually want, what we really want” is Donald Trump, he said.
Rudy Guiliani showed up at Trump’s rally
Trump spent the evening on the attack, airing some of his old complaints, including his false accusation that the 2020 election was stolen from him and that he was the victim of a government witch hunt with the lawsuits against him.
He took several hits against DeSantis, who is trailing in the polls, and left New Hampshire to campaign in South Carolina. DeSantis also canceled his scheduled appearances on the Sunday morning political shows.
“I haven’t even mentioned Ron DeSanctimonious’ name yet – I think he’s gone,” Trump said as the crowd roared.
Someone in the crowd shouted “loser.” “You didn’t just say that,” Trump joked back as the audience laughed.
But he went further, saying of DeSantis: “I I think he’ll be out pretty soon, based on what I’m hearing.”
He accused Haley of trying to “turn liberal voters into Republicans for about two minutes while they’re voting, and then back into liberal voters.”
Trump has repeatedly accused Haley of pushing New Hampshire Democrats to vote for her in the Republican primary.
“Nikki Haley is using radical Democratic money to fund a radical Democratic campaign operation she runs,” he said.
“The radical left Democrats support Nikki Haley for one reason, because they know she is very easy to beat. She will be very easy to beat. She’s down,” Trump said.
More voters in New Hampshire identify themselves as “unaffiliated” – or independent – than Republicans or Democrats.
Those “unaffiliated” voters can choose which party they want to vote for, and Haley has been courting that group hard.
Voters can also switch affiliations if they want to change which contest they’re voting in – but the deadline for that was in October, meaning no more changes are allowed.
Before the October deadline, about 3,500 Democrats in New Hampshire converted their party registration to unaffiliated, meaning they can vote in the Republican primary if they wish.
Trump told his legion of devoted supporters to turn out en masse for him on Tuesday.
‘We need large margins because we have to convey real unity as a message. Because with real unity they will not be able to cheat,” he said.
The former president also referenced his immunity battle with the Supreme Court. Trump argues that he should be immune from prosecution over allegations that he plotted to overturn the outcome of the 2020 election because he was president at the time.
“So a president should be given immunity and this has nothing to do with me,” he said at his rally. ‘This has to do with every president. For example, if Biden gets out, I’m the guy who has a list to go after. But you have to give a president immunity.”
He argued that without immunity, President Harry Truman would never have dropped an atomic bomb.
But he also bragged about his accusers, saying, “Every time the radical left Democrats indict communists and fascists, I consider it a great badge of honor.”
Trump also made an unusual move during his rally. He endorsed Rep. Dean Phillips, who is challenging President Joe Biden for the Democratic nomination, in the New Hampshire Democratic primary.
“I think Democrats should vote for the Congressman just to send a message,” he said of Phillips.
He then touted his own endorsement, noting of Phillips, “He just got a lot of votes, by the way.”