President Donald Trump held a rally in Florence, Arizona, tonight.
But even before he opened his mouth tonight, he was already winning.
Trump has been trying to set himself up as something of a kingmaker as we go into the midterm elections. That’s already seemingly having a big effect on the various races.
Rep. John Katko (RINO-NY), one of 10 Republicans who voted to impeach Trump, decided not to seek re-election Friday. Katko was also behind a bill to create a commission to investigate the Jan. 6 riot. That commission was rejected. He likely knows that he would be in deep trouble if he ran again. He was being challenged by a pro-Trump candidate, Andrew McCarthy. This is the third House Republican who voted for impeachment who is now quitting. The others are Rep. Adam Kinzinger (RINO-IL) and Rep. Anthony Gonzalez (R-OH).
Then there was a GOP gubernatorial candidate challenging the Trump-endorsed gubernatorial candidate in Arizona, where he’s speaking tonight. But Kimberly Yee just backed out of the race hours ago and said that she would run for re-election as state treasurer instead. Kari Lake, a former Phoenix television anchor, is the Trump-endorsed candidate.
Lake was at the Save America rally tonight at the Canyon Moon Ranch in Florence, along with an enormous crowd of Trump supporters.
Part of huge crowd at #TrumpRally #Arizona + traffic jam with more still trying to get in @RepAndyBiggsAZ @RealAmVoice pic.twitter.com/h1vwP16tuR
— Ed Henry (@edhenry) January 16, 2022
President 45 #Trump arriving #Arizona #TRUMP2024ToSaveAmerica #TrumpRally #TrumpRallyAZ #Trump2024 @DonaldJTrumpJr pic.twitter.com/GkwCRwlQI5
— Hamlet Garcia (@Hamletgarcia17) January 16, 2022
Trump rally in Arizona. #45 #47 pic.twitter.com/ReKIoYdL2u
— Richard Grenell (@RichardGrenell) January 16, 2022
Trump came out of the box swinging, mocking Biden while ripping his failures, including on inflation and the supply chain. He spent a lot of time focused on Biden, pointing to his horrible approval ratings and saying Biden didn’t know what he was doing.
"I'm going to get rid of COVID."
Former President Donald Trump makes fun of President Joe Biden at the #SaveAmerica rally in Florence, Arizona. pic.twitter.com/HFZYwXLUkU
— Newsmax (@newsmax) January 16, 2022
Trump also attacked the unfair treatment of Jan. 6 defendants.
"When it comes to January 6th defendants, partisan Democrats have celebrated their indefinite detention, these people are living in hell."
Former President Donald Trump on January 6th prison conditions at the #SaveAmerica rally. pic.twitter.com/apdX9lf4Lb
— Newsmax (@newsmax) January 16, 2022
He also spoke about the contrast between the approaches take on the Capitol riot and BLM/Antifa riots. He also picked up on the recent questions that Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) raised when he grilled an FBI official about the involvement of FBI informants on Jan. 6. He then bashed the Jan. 6 Committee as “the unselect committee of political hacks.”
Trump hit on mandates, saying “enough is enough,” and that people had to take their lives back.
President Trump Calling Out The Crazy Mandates
"I say enough is enough and we're not going to take it anymore!" pic.twitter.com/95X5e0rBnz
— The Columbia Bugle 🇺🇸 (@ColumbiaBugle) January 16, 2022
“I’m proud I was the anti-mandate president,” Trump declared. “We gave Biden every tool he could want…He’s incapable.”
Finally, while he didn’t say he was going to run again, he said, “[W]e are going to take back the White House” in 2024, and he predicted a big win for Republicans in 2022.
“A great red wave is going to begin right here in Arizona,” Trump exclaimed. “This is the year we take back the House, this is the year we take back the Senate, and this is the year we take back America.”
Story cited here.