In a speech that punched hard at Democrats but skipped over his GOP rivals, former President Donald Trump announced Tuesday his 2024 candidacy for president flanked by massive American flags at his Mar-a-Lago club and home in Palm Beach, Florida.
He filed a statement of candidacy as well, setting up a potential rematch against President Joe Biden who intends to run for reelection in 2024.
The 45th president announced his bid for a second term staying on message in a way strikingly different from his traditional rallies, avoiding in a subdued tone the intra-party sniping at a moment following the lackluster midterm elections for GOP when many Republicans are distancing themselves from him.
He went as far as defending the Republican Party’s midterm performance, claiming that Republicans had taken over Congress and fired House Speaker Nancy Pelosi despite the fact that Democrats were able to retain control of the Senate as a result of the lackluster performance from Trump-backed GOP candidates in key Senate races.
Trump also avoided his continuing denials of President Biden’s 2020 election victory focusing instead in his somewhat winding speech on boasting about his often-exaggerated record in the Oval Office and claiming that ‘America’s comeback starts right now.’
He largely touted himself as the person to fix problems plaguing the US under Biden, including the stubbornly high gas prices, crime, drugs, and the “invasion of migrants” due to the porous southern border that Trump described as the reason for the increased illegal immigration.
Though he focused his speech on accusing Biden and ‘the radical left lunatics’, as he pointed out, for running the country into the ground and forcing upon the Americans the decline of the United States, Trump couldn’t resist making himself a victim and blasting the federal government and “deep state” for the FBI raid on his home in Mar-a-Lago.
He also delved into voting changes that would allow only the use of paper ballots but also stepped into new ground, calling for regulations on stock trading for federal lawmakers, congressional term limits, and lobbying bans for former Cabinet and Congress members.
Although much of Trump’s family – including his wife Melania, his children Lara, Eric, and Barron, and his son-in-law Jared Kushner – were present during a primetime event at his Mar-a-Lago club, what was notable was the absence of the former president’s second oldest child Ivanka Trump, which did not attend the highly anticipated announcement.
And not only that, but she also told Fox News Digital in an interview on the same evening that she does not plan to be involved in politics, choosing instead to choosing to prioritize her young children and her private life.
According to the Trump White House archives, Ivanka served as an adviser to the president during Trump’s administration, focusing on women’s education and economic empowerment, job creation, and economic growth through workforce development, skills training, and entrepreneurship.
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