In his first rally since the FBI raid on his residence in Mar-a-Lago, Donald Trump appeared in Pennsylvania last week to talk up struggling Senate candidate Dr. Oz.
But in typical Trump fashion, his speech was more about himself and his many grievances than the TV doctor-turned-budding politician.
In a wide-ranging speech spanning almost two hours, the former president dubbed his successor an ‘enemy of the state’, called the FBI ‘vicious monsters’ and trotted out conspiracy theories – all leading to accusations of an ‘escalating violent rhetoric’.
Oz is up against Democrat John Fetterman in the November midterms, with Fetterman taking the lead in the polls, and Trump was clearly back in his comfort zone in a speech that drew huge cheers from his supporters.
Before Trump went on stage, State Senator Doug Mastriano spoke to the crowd, while Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene was Trump's opening act.
“The FBI and the Justice Department have become vicious monsters, controlled by radical-left scoundrels, lawyers, and the media, who tell them what to do,” Trump told those in attendance, who then chanted 'defund the FBI' – a new slogan that also featured on T-shirts worn by attendees.
“It was not just my home that was raided last month,” he said. “It was the hopes and dreams of every citizen who I've been fighting for.”
President Joe Biden had given a televised speech the previous week in the same state, in which he slammed MAGA supporters as a threat to democracy.
Trump hit back by branding the sitting American president an 'enemy of the state'.
“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,” he said.
His musings on cultural issues such as trans people in sports, and repeatedly stating that drug dealers should get the death penalty, received loud cheers from the crowd.
The state's biggest city, Philadelphia, has one of the highest crime rates in the US.
Trump also took aim at Meta head honcho Mark Zuckerberg, who had recently caused a media firestorm after sitting down with podcast star Joe Rogan.
The former president somewhat inexplicably told the crowd: “Last week, the weirdo – he's a weirdo – Mark Zuckerberg came to the White House, kissed my ass all night.” Trump has, of course, been absent from the White House since January 2021.
Evidently still angry at being deplatformed by Facebook, he used Zuckerberg's interview – in which he spoke of limiting news on the Hunter Biden laptop leak until it could be verified – as proof of a conspiracy against him.
“Well, Mark Zuckerberg confessed that in 2020, the FBI went to Facebook and the media and gave them the false narratives that the Hunter Biden laptop from hell was Russian disinformation, even though they knew that was not true,” he said.
The left-leaning American news outlets quickly called out Trump on his 'escalating violent rhetoric' as the mid-term elections became increasingly significant for the country and President Biden's agenda.
The significance of the upcoming November midterm elections are unparalleled. Trump-endorsed candidates have gone on to win the Republican party primary. But the likes of Oz, Doug Mastriano, and JD Vance – all endorsed by Trump – are struggling in polls against Democratic opponents in battles pitted to broader electorates.
In what could worry Republicans, and more specifically, the MAGA brand Republicans who see Trump and only Trump as the party's nominee for president, is a special election that recently took place in Alaska.
The high-profile former state governor and nominee for vice president in 2008, Sarah Palin, lost to Democrat Mary Peltola in an upset that saw Peltola become the first native Alaskan to sit in Congress.
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