Former President Donald Trump issued a warning to his fellow Republicans that they need to “get unified” and “get smart” if they want to win big in the 2024 elections.
The comments come during Trump’s latest campaign rally in New Hampshire on Saturday, just days after the third Republican presidential debate, which the former president chose not to participate in. Trump railed against some of his competitors during the rally, noting that many of them “shouldn’t be running because it’s a joke.”
GOP PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATES WARNED AGAINST PARTICIPATING IN IOWA THANKSGIVING EVENT
“But you know, say what you want, but it takes courage. Sure, it does. It takes courage. It’s not an easy thing to do,” he said. “But the Republican Party, they have to get unified, and they have to get smart.”
Trump criticized several of his opponents onstage, such as Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) and former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson, the latter of whom he slammed for his low polling numbers.
“How about this guy, Asa Hutchinson? He’s been at zero for the last three months,” Trump said. “He didn’t make the last debate because he had zero … He got absolutely no votes.”
Later on, Trump riffed for minutes about former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, who he called a “fat pig,” and repeated stories about advisers telling him that he was not allowed to say that about his competitors.
During much of the rally, Trump relied heavily on the war in Israel to tout his foreign policy agenda and compare himself to President Joe Biden, who he is likely to face in the general election. His speech focused on delivering “peace through strength,” arguing the world was in a safer position during the Trump administration than it has been over the last two years.
“To me, peace through strength is not just a political slogan. It’s actually a moral duty. And it’s my commitment to you, the American people, we will not have World War III,” Trump said. “We were respected when I was president. We were respected by China.”
Trump also touted his economic policies, hitting Biden over rising inflation rates and the high cost of living.
“You didn’t have these problems three years ago,” Trump said. “We were the greatest economy in history. Now we have a mess. You’ll end up in the Great Depression.”
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The rally comes after a national poll released by the New York Times last week showed Biden losing to Trump in five of the six most crucial battleground states next year, prompting Democrats to consider whether the 80-year-old president is the best option to lead the ticket. Across the six states, including Nevada, Georgia, Arizona, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, and Michigan, Biden trails Trump by an average of 48% to 44%.
But when Biden is taken out of the equation, the poll showed that a generic unnamed “Democratic candidate” could shift the race in Democrats’ favor — turning their deficit into an eight-point lead against Trump.
