Trey Paul, FISM News
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As fallout out from Thursday’s “anti-MAGA speech” given by President Joe Biden continues, former President Donald Trump appears to be capitalizing on the opportunity and once again testing the re-election waters.
Just days, after Biden gave a speech given in Pennsylvania, criticizing the Republican Party for “being dominated, driven and intimidated by Donald Trump and the MAGA Republicans,” Trump took the stage in the battleground state at a rally in Wilkes-Barre to back several high-profile Republican candidates.
Always one to defend himself and his supporters, Trump not only slammed the divisive words of Biden but also fired up his base by once again hinting at a possible run in 2024.
During the rally Trump blasted Biden’s speech, saying, “As you know this week, Joe Biden came to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania to give the most vicious, hateful and divisive speech ever delivered by an American president, vilifying 75 million citizens – plus probably another 75 to 150, if we want to be accurate about it.” With thousands of supporters looking on, Trump also took a direct swipe at the current president, saying, “He’s the enemy of the state if you want to know the truth.”
What may have stood out most during Trump’s speech, however, didn’t have as much to do with the current president as much as it did with the former.
After saying he doesn’t believe the Democratic party is a “50 percent party within our country,” Trump went on to say “I may just have to do it again,” once again hinting at a second run for president.
Trump’s tease comes as both Trump and Biden are trying to rally their bases ahead of the November midterms, and the former president is at the center of both strategies. Trump has become a lightning rod in the political arena, with few holding a neutral opinion on the former president.
Biden is using an anti-MAGA rhetoric to try to add fuel to the fire of a rabid Trump-hate held by the majority in his base prior to midterms, while the GOP is hoping that Trump’s campaigning for candidates will lead to a red wave in November. Many polls have revealed that the GOP could gain control of both the House and Senate in November, largely due to Biden’s poor approval rating amongst voters.
Newsmax contributor Benny Johnson tweeted a video showing the crowds at Trump’s rally and Biden’s rally in Wilkes-Barre that took place a week apart, highlighting the wide disparity in how Biden and Trump are able to rally their base.
Donald Trump and Joe Biden Both held rallies in Wilkes-Barre Pennsylvania this week.
Here is what they looked like back to back.
Incredible. pic.twitter.com/Xe7cWQzrQO
— Benny Johnson (@bennyjohnson) September 4, 2022
Biden has been criticized by conservatives and even those on the left for his divisive words, during his speech on Thursday, but what has become even more widely panned is the optics of his speech.
Conservatives and critics from all over noted the harsh “blood red” lighting that was behind Biden during Thursday’s speech, with many comparing the backdrop to a vast array of dictator speeches from “Star Wars” to Hitler. Trump was quick to highlight the criticism during his rally, saying, “How’d you like that red lighting behind him like the devil?”
In the days that followed Biden’s speech, the president tried to backtrack his statements, telling reporters he wasn’t referring to “any Trump supporter” when he spoke about his perceived threats to American democracy, instead trying to focus his criticism on Trump himself.
“I don’t consider any Trump supporter to be a threat to the country. I do think anyone who calls for the use of violence, fails to condemn violence when it’s used, refuses to acknowledge an election has been won, insists upon changing the way in which we rule and count votes, that is a threat to democracy,” the president said.
Biden’s speech also didn’t sit well with Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who many have speculated may also be mulling a presidential run in 2024.
In a recent tweet, Gov. DeSantis referred to President Biden as the “American Nero” and called his speech a “truly despicable spectacle.”
In an interview with Fox News, the Florida governor elaborated further saying:
“He ran as being a unifier, and he’s basically saying to the vast majority of the country that disapproves of him that they’re effectively a threat to the republic. He dodders, he lashes out. But at the end of the day, his policies are why there’s so much opposition to him.”
Regarding opposition, it appears if former President Donald Trump were to run for re-election, he’d be getting support.
According to a new Morning Consult/Politico survey that was conducted after the FBI’s raid of Trump’s Mar-a-Lago home, roughly three in five GOP voters now say they’d vote for him in the 2024 primary, were he to run.
The same researchers who conducted that survey also concluded that a record-high 71% of GOP voters say that Trump should run for president in 2024.