Trump showed exactly why Republicans don’t want him to announce his run for president before the midterms with a DC speech that is a total disaster for Republicans.
Trump, who masterminded and incited the 1/6 attack said that violence is tearing America apart:
Trump just demanded that he be allowed to deploy the National Guard unilaterally against the American people. pic.twitter.com/lB3NROb12e
— Sarah Reese Jones (@PoliticusSarah) July 26, 2022
Trump said we ought to give the police respect, as he did nothing while his supporters murdered police on 1/6:
Trump who got police officers killed on 1/6 by allowing his mob to storm the Capitol says, “Let them do their job. Give them back the respect that they deserve. Great police know what to do.” pic.twitter.com/cuQgRi9uGP
— Sarah Reese Jones (@PoliticusSarah) July 26, 2022
Trump later demanded the authority to unilaterally deploy the National Guard against the American people:
Trump just demanded that he be allowed to deploy the National Guard unilaterally against the American people. pic.twitter.com/lB3NROb12e
— Sarah Reese Jones (@PoliticusSarah) July 26, 2022
Trump bragged about sending the Secret Service out to hassle the homeless when he was president:
Trump brags about sending the Secret Service out to harass the DC homeless when he was president. pic.twitter.com/ngFbtRmPCV
— Sarah Reese Jones (@PoliticusSarah) July 26, 2022
The speech was Trump wearing his authoritarianism on his sleeve. Trump told lots of scary stories about white people being crime victims, said that he wanted a court system like China’s for drug dealers, and lapsed back into the usual anti-immigrant racism that he has been running on since 2015.
Trump’s speech was a total disaster for the Republican Party because it reminded every non-Trumper that the former president is an unstable person with democracy destroying ambitions.
It is clear why Republicans are terrified that Trump will announce his candidacy before the midterm elections. To say that what Trump was advocating during his speech in DC is unpopular would be a gross understatement.
Trump is trying to destroy democracy. He did not suggest a single popular policy that would have the support of a majority of the American people.
The same person who was behind the 1/6 attack leaned completely into his strongman delusions, and if he announces his presidential campaign before November, Republicans could see their dreams of a red wave turn into a blue nightmare.
Mr. Easley is the managing editor. He is also a White House Press Pool and a Congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. His graduate work focused on public policy, with a specialization in social reform movements.
Awards and Professional Memberships
Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association