Trump launches re-election bid before jam-packed arena, vows to 'Keep America Great'
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
President Trump formally launched his 2020 re-election campaign Tuesday night before a jam-packed crowd in Orlando's Amway Center arena, and quickly unloaded on the media organizations and government actors he said tried their hardest with "everything they had" to bring down both his candidacy and presidency.
To chants of "USA," Trump took the stage after brief remarks by Vice President Mike Pence and first lady Melania Trump, and recalled his unlikely rise to power.
"We stared down the unholy alliance of lobbyists and donors and special interests who made a living bleeding our country dry," Trump said. "The swamp is fighting back so viciously and violently. For the last two and a half years, we have been under siege.”
And after polling the boisterous crowd, Trump appeared to settle on a new campaign slogan: "Keep America Great."
He went on to tout the economy and the planned Space Force, celebrate the "obliteration" of ISIS, and declare that "Republicans believe that every life is a sacred gift from God" amid a newly energized national pro-life movement.
Just over four years ago, Trump descended through the pink marble and brass atrium of Trump Tower to announce his candidacy for president, the first step on a journey few analysts believed would take him all the way to the White House.
This time, thousands of Trump supporters arrived more than 40 hours in advance to secure a spot in the Amway Center, despite sweltering heat. Some had been camped in chairs for several nights.
Trump told attendees he had begun not only a "great political campaign but a great movement" committed to the idea that a government must "care for its own citizens first."
He called his election that year as a "defining moment in American history" -- and then directed the crowd to "ask them, right there," referring to the media assembled in the back, which many in the crowd jeered.
In one of the most dramatic moments of the rally, Trump charged that Democrats want a "do-over" of Special Counsel Robert Mueller's report -- and then, his voice approaching a shout, Trump blasted Democrats' apparent lack of interest in misconduct within their party.
Supporters of President Trump waiting in line hours before the arena doors opened Tuesday in Orlando. (AP Photo/John Raoux)
"Our patriotic movement has been under assault from the very first day," Trump said. He specifically called out the "phony" dossier used by the FBI to secure a secret surveillance warrant to surveil one of his former aides, Carter Page.
After Trump noted that the dossier was funded by the Hillary Clinton campaign and Democratic National Committee (DNC), the crowd again broke into a chant, this time cheering, "Lock her up."
"If you want to know how the system is rigged, just look at how they came at us for three years with everything they had, versus the free pass they gave to Hillary and her aides after they set up an illegal server, destroyed evidence, deleted and acid-washed 33,000 emails, exposed classified information, and turned the State Department into a pay-for-play cash machine," Trump said, his voice rising with the crowd's.
"Lock her up," the crowd responded again.
DOJ REACHED DEAL WITH CLINTON LAWYERS TO KEEP CLINTON FOUNDATION EMAILS FROM FBI
"33,000 emails deleted, think of it!" Trump said. "You know, there was a lot of corruption on the other side. But, you know, they get a subpoena from the United States Congress, and they decide they're not gonna give it, so, Lindsey Graham, they delete and they acid wash -- which is very expensive, nobody does it -- those emails, never to be seen again!
"But we may find them again somewhere deep in the State Department," Trump mused. "Can you imagine if I got a subpoena? Think of this -- if I deleted one email, like a love note to Melania, it's the electric chair for Trump."
For the most part, the rally focused on Trump's policy successes, on a range of matters including criminal justice reform and the economy.
"Our country is soaring to incredible new heights," Trump asserted, to loud applause. "Our economy is the envy of the world, perhaps the greatest economy we've had in the history of our country, and as long as you keep this team in place -- we have a tremendous way to go -- our future has never, ever looked brighter or sharper."
Trump continued: "The fact is, the American Dream is back. It's bigger, and better, and stronger than ever before."
The president emphasized his success in appointing federal judges, and lamented Democrats' treatment of now-Justice Brett Kavanuagh, telling the crowd, "They didnt just try to win, they tried to destroy him with false and malicious accusations" in the name of "political dominance and control."
Trump called Kavanaugh a "great gentleman" who is "highly respected" throughout the judiciary, and said Democrats also targeted his family. Kavanuagh, speaking to Fox News last year, said his wife had received numerous death threats.
"Just imagine what this angry left-wing mob would do if they were in charge of this country," Trump said.
"We just finished [confirming judge] number 107, already approved, sitting on the bench -- how about that?" Trump then asked. "By the time we're finished with the rest, we will have record percentages [of judges appointed] -- our percentage will be a record, except for one person. One person has a higher percentage ... George Washington."
At one point, outgoing Press Secretary Sarah Sanders took the stage, bringing the crowd to its feet.
"We want people to come into our country based on merit," Trump said, after praising Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials as underappreciated heroes securing the border.
He went on to condemn "crazy" Bernie Sanders, and vowed again that America would "never" become a socialist country.
The festive and lively environment was evident both outside and inside the arena. Caps and shirts and mugs and ponchos were being hawked in corners far and wide in Orlando, with slogans ranging from "God, Guns and Trump" to "Trump’s Deplorables" to "Working to Defeat Liberals since 1854."
"Think of this -- if I deleted one email, like a love note to Melania, it's the electric chair for Trump."
— President Trump
"Bikers For Trump" volunteer security members managed traffic in and out of the rally areas as jubilant Trump devotees partied to a band while in line, occasionally breaking into "USA, USA" chants.
Others wandered the blocks around the venue urging people to sign a petition to "prevent voter fraud."
"Only U.S. citizens should be able to vote," explained Donny, a Jacksonville native. "That’s what we want in Florida."
Joe Biden, the frontrunner among Democrats in both polling and fundraising, sought to blunt the momentum from the Tuesday launch shortly before Trump took the stage.
ON THE GROUND BEFORE TRUMP'S BIG RALLY, A CARNIVAL-LIKE ATMOSPHERE
"Donald Trump is launching his campaign for re-election tonight and the American people face a choice -- we can make Trump an aberration or let him fundamentally and forever alter the character of this nation," Biden Deputy Campaign Manager Kate Bedingfield said in a statement.
Hats and other merchandise were flying off the racks Tuesday afternoon in Orlando, ahead of Trump's rally. (AP Photo/John Raoux)
"Our country cannot afford four more years of Trump diminishing America's role on the world stage, cutting access to health care, ignoring the climate emergency that is an unprecedented threat to our national security, tearing children from their parents at the border, giving enormous new tax breaks to big corporations and the wealthy at the expense of working families, and dividing our country by embracing toxic bigotry and racism that's antithetical to who we are," Bedingfield added.
Sanders, meanwhile, hosted an "Ask Me Anything" open forum on Reddit on Tuesday. The self-described democratic socialist condemned what he called Trump's "rejection of science," and lamented the "incredible attacks against working families that have taken place under unfettered capitalism."
Sanders, in a video response to Trump's address later in the day , issued a series of personal insults. He called Trump a "racist" and "sexist," among other attacks.
"The working class of this country has been decimated for decades by a coordinated attack from corporate America," Sanders told one Reddit user. "Bad trade deals have allowed corporations to ship millions of jobs abroad, companies have bitterly resisted unionization and the minimum wage has not been raised for almost 10 years."
Not all of the participants in Sanders' Reddit event gave him a warm welcome, however, with some pointing out Sanders' recent, dramatic rise to wealth.
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
"People like you have destroyed the working class by taking more of their taxes to fund a corporate-run utopia that never can exist," one user replied. "Wealth is decided by the rarity of your skill set, not how hard you work, Mr. 3 mansions and an Audi R8."
Trump is ahead of his Democrat rivals in key battleground states and "voters overall" support re-electing him, a Republican National Committee (RNC) memo obtained by Fox News claimed. The memo came amid reports of the president struggling in polls putting him up against potential 2020 opponents, including Biden . A Fox News poll showed similar numbers.
But, according to the RNC, its own massive data operation told a different story. According to the committee's numbers, Trump has a higher approval than disapproval rating in the battleground states of Ohio and Pennsylvania while a majority of Florida voters (53 percent) supported re-electing him.
Trump has an unprecedented $40.8 million in cash-on-hand, as of the start of the second quarter of fundraising on April 1. While that would be a massive war chest on its own, the Trump campaign, the Republican National Committee and their joint fundraising committees had a combined $82 million cash-on-hand going into the second quarter.
Fox News' Mike Emanuel, Hollie McKay, Sam Dorman, Paul Steinhauser, and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Tags
Who is online
101 visitors
This was his 60th campaign rally since taking office. All paid for by the tax payers. Imagine if Obama had 60 campaign rally's in 2.5 years, all on the tax payers dime. I cannot even imagine the outrage from the right.
Only because a guy that has told over 10,000 lies told you so. Trump is so stupid it's laughable.
The sad thing is, they don't really care.
It is like they are under a spell.
One where their brain does not have to work.
America was greater before trump and it will be greater after trump. Trump is a shit stain on America's history.
This POS is so full of it. Now he is saying that Democrats want to terminate Medicare.
The cult of trump continues...
Look in my eyes, what do you see?
The cult of personality
I know your anger, I know your dreams
I've been everything you wanna be
I'm the cult of personality
Like Mussolini and Kennedy
I'm the cult of personality
The cult of personality
The cult of personality
Neon lights, Nobel Prize
When a mirror speaks, the reflection lies
You won't have to follow me
Only you can set me free
I sell the things you need to be
I'm the smiling face on your TV
I'm the cult of personality
I exploit you, still you love me
I tell you one and one makes three
I'm the cult of personality
Like Joseph Stalin and Gandhi
I'm the cult of personality
The cult of personality
The cult of personality
Neon lights, Nobel Prize
When a leader speaks, that leader dies
You won't have to follow me
Only you can set you free
You gave me fortune
You gave me fame
You gave me power in your God's name
I'm every person you need to be
I'm the cult of personality
I'm the cult of
I'm the cult of
I'm the cult of
I'm the cult of
I'm the cult of
I'm the cult of
I'm the cult of
I'm the cult of personality
America has always been great, sad to think people think it's only great because of the POS in the white house.
didn't Michelle think it was only great because her hubby was elected?
It certainly was greater when her husband was elected. We've come a long way in regards to racial equality, but the election of Obama, which really pissed off so many worthless white supremacists and bigots who crawled out from under their rocks to elect Trump in retaliation, shows us just how far we still have to go. Thankfully, the majority of Americans are embarrassed but such a piece of shit bigot in the white house and we will continue to work towards being a more perfect union despite the nasty racists, the Nazi's, the KKK and white nationalist Russia lovers who will slowly but inexorably be removed like the disgusting engorged blood sucking tics they are.
Hillary was the worst candidate in history. So bad, that Trump was elected. You can blame it on who ever makes you feel better because you where used by the Democrats or you can accept it. The sooner the crazy liberals accept this the better off you will be and perhaps they will put forth a decent candidate. It has been over two years and the loss of Hillary is still haunting the TDS crowd.
Awe...no emoji?
haha
yepp, the usa was great for the first time in her life.
and they were going to fundamentally change our country as well...
but we fundamentally rejected that bs... LOL
good memory
yepp, and that is how long trump will be there also.
things might have been different if bush had weaponized the govt, used known fabricated evidence and tried to frame obama.
but ya know... we are not marxist.
cheers
What's hilarious about this point of view is how absolutely false it is. They say Hillary lost because she was the "worst candidate" yet 3 million more Americans voted for her than for Trump. Trump won by a very narrow 110,000 votes overall in 3 swing States to narrowly steal an electoral college win. That is in no way "the people" selecting Trump over Hillary, it was by no means a referendum on Democrats, we were in the majority then and still are today, the only problem is getting all registered Democrats energized enough to vote, and there's nothing that has energized them more than watching the embarrassment of Trump in the oval office. The 2018 elections showed 10 million more Americans voted for Democrats than for Republicans, but for some reason the rats are still dancing on their sinking ship. It's sad to watch, and I can only assume they are just too drunk on the Trump toilet wine to see what's actually happening. I supposed with the King of Lies at their lead, there is no group better at pure, unadulterated denial. Trump relabeled it "The Power of Positive Thinking", but there's no amount of wishful or positive thinking or praying that will save the Trumptanic now that it has hit the iceberg of the Mueller report and the people gave congressional Democrats the power to expose the damage this administration has done to our nation and has been hiding.
studies have shown conclusively that the stupidest people vote for the worst candidate
without the stupid vote in califonia and newyork... what would ya do?
obviously, most of the smartest people live in states that voted trump.
cheers
I was "over it" long ago. It keeps being brought up by some using the monumentally ignorant defense that somehow "the people" voted for Trump over Hillary because Hillary was so terrible. She was certainly no prized pig, but she was a far more competent option than Trump and the majority of Americans understood that and voted for her, millions more than those who voted for the sad sack of stupid Donald Trump. So every time a Trump sycophant brings up Hillary as some sort of defense of the stinky piece of shit President they're supporting I will point out what a ridiculously flawed and moronic an argument that is. By the self proclaimed "deplorables" pushing the pendulum of politics so far back, nearly to the 1950's where many Trump supporters wish they could go back to, when being a white male Christian meant the USA was your oyster, that pendulum is going to swing back hard. And when it does there are going to be many conservatives who will wish they hadn't pushed it so far back to cause it to swing forward so fast towards the inevitable progressive ideals our country was founded on. We will continue to become a more perfect union regardless of the bigoted barnacles at our feet trying to stop any progress.
It's not Democrats who are constantly wheeling out the Hillary Straw man to be re-attacked. In Trump speech last night he brought up Hillary at least SEVEN times even though she isn't running or even endorsing any candidates. I don't give a crap about Hillary, I couldn't care less about what she thinks, what she is doing, she could go jump off Trump tower and I really couldn't care less. The only ones who love bringing up Hillary are those who like to wheel out the dead horse, point at it and say "This is you!" and then continue bashing the unrecognizable pulpy mass of flesh. It's pointless, it's stupid, but there you have it, non stop parade for the last two years of conservatives carting around a decayed corpse as if it proves anything.
All the religious conservatives have really done is set the precedent for the next several years after Trump loses in a landslide in 2020 and his disgusting fat bloated effigy will be rolled out and beaten as a representation of everything Republican because so many Republicans abandoned their morals to cling to the sinking Trumptanic.
Not triggered in the slightest, just stating facts.
ya have to read all the words.... not just the ones you feel you can twist about.
seems ya missed this bit...
stupid people also think the national majority matters in a presidential election.
[Deleted]
Awe, do you feel better, dear?
Trump rally's.....gun free zones... What a hypocrite.
Its amazing to me that so many see trump as their savior, the second coming while the whole time trump gives zero fux about ANYONE but himself.
Ya, keep shrieking bumper sticker idiot platitudes while wearing your little red hats and shaking miss-spelled poster board signs.
Dip shits will pay for anything.