Topline
Former President Donald Trump blasted President Joe Biden in his first campaign speech this year in New Hampshire on Saturday, arguing a “selfish, radical and corrupt” Democratic establishment has “destroyed” the country, and once again referenced his baseless claim the 2020 election was rigged.
Former President Donald Trump attacked Democrats for what he claimed were loose border policies, in … [+]
Key Facts
Speaking at a New Hampshire Republican Party annual meeting, Trump criticized the Biden Administration, claiming it allowed “prisoners, people from mental institutions and terrorists being dumped into our country,” before asking the crowd who was at fault, to which it responded “Biden” and “Brandon” (a MAGA nickname for President Joe Biden).
Trump, who announced his candidacy in November, blasted Democrats’ immigration policy, arguing, “we have open borders when they should be closed; it’s April Fools’ Day”—Biden, however, had been relying on the same Covid-era policy (Title 42) as Trump to control an influx of migrants at the U.S.-Mexico border, and earlier this month announced new measures that have been compared to Trump-Administration immigration policies.
If elected in 2024, Trump pledged to restore “every border security measure of the Trump presidency” within “hours” of his inauguration, and said he would ask Congress to create criminal penalties for any future administration that “releases millions and millions” of “people that you don’t want in our country”—drawing parallels to his 2016 campaign pledge to secure the U.S.-Mexico border and remove “bad hombres.”
Crucial Quote
Trump also attacked the Biden Administration for not supporting Republican initiatives to require voter IDs at national elections, “because they want to cheat; that’s what they’re best at”—referencing his repeated and baseless accusations that the 2020 election was stolen from him. He also went after Biden’s controversial withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan in 2021, arguing, “we have a woke military that can’t fight or win as proven in Afghanistan.”
Key Background
Trump, who won the New Hampshire Republican primary in 2016, had made border security a focus of his previous two presidential campaigns, as well. In recent months, he has been active on his social media site, Truth Social, criticizing Democrats for policies he claims are too lenient, and doubling down on his 2016 platform for a border wall. His speech on Saturday comes one month after the Supreme Court ruled to keep the controversial border policy called Title 42—a policy that allows immigration authorities to expel undocumented migrants—in place, after it was set to expire and after Republicans blasted the Biden Administration for allowing it to lapse. In his first speech in November announcing his presidential campaign, Trump promised to continue to build a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border if he’s elected in 2024, saying, “we built the wall and now we will add to it” (although Trump’s border wall is far from complete, according to a report by the federal Customs and Border Protection Agency).
Further Reading
Trump criticizes Democrats’ effort to ‘cruelly’ change up primary calendar in New Hampshire speech (The Hill)
Trump rips Democrats in New Hampshire, heads to South Carolina in campaign kickoff (Reuters)
Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/brianbushard/2023/01/28/every-day-is-april-fools-day-trump-blasts-biden-and-spreads-falsehoods-in-new-hampshire-campaign-stop/