Source: Politics<\/p>\n
Former President Donald Trump marked his return to the nation\u2019s capital on Tuesday with a speech looking toward 2024 but also relitigating the 2020 election.<\/p>\n
Trump for the most part used the keynote address at the America First Policy Institute summit to talk about the November midterms and the next race for the White House \u2014 at least temporarily setting aside his obsession with the contest he lost.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m here before you to begin to talk about what we must do to achieve that future when we win a triumphant victory in 2022 and when a Republican president takes back the White House in 2024, which I strongly believe will happen,\u201d Trump said, speaking at the Marriott Marquis in the address for his allied think tank\u2019s America First Agenda Summit.<\/p>\n
But in the 90-minute-plus speech, Trump was unable to resist his pull toward 2020 and the past. He took about a minute toward the end to peddle lies about his defeat almost two years ago.<\/p>\n
\u201cI ran for president. I won. Then I won a second time \u2014 did much better the second time,\u201d Trump said.<\/p>\n
He then laid out what he called \u201cprevious assaults\u201d against him and the country, from the Mueller investigation to two impeachment trials. He said the same was happening with Jan. 6, 2021, as the committee unveils damning evidence about the former president and his inner circle\u2019s actions surrounding the Capitol attack.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey want to damage me so I cannot go back to work for you,\u201d Trump said to chants of \u201cfour more years\u201d and a standing ovation. \u201cAnd I don\u2019t think that\u2019s going to happen.\u201d<\/p>\n
Trump\u2019s debut in Washington as ex-president comes almost a year and a half after he departed the White House in disgrace after Jan. 6 rocked the nation. As the former president inches closer to announcing a 2024 run, he used the event to tout his administration\u2019s policy from the border to the economy. He then attacked the Biden administration on inflation, high gas prices and what he called a \u201cwide-open\u201d southern border.<\/p>\n
The former president spent the majority of his speech on crime and public safety \u2014 capitalizing on an issue the GOP has latched on to in the past year as the nation faces a surge in shootings and homicides. He painted a dark picture of crime in the U.S., running through a list of brutal murders.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf we don\u2019t have safety, we don\u2019t have freedom. We don\u2019t have a country. America First must mean safety first,\u201d Trump said. \u201cStarting with our new majorities in Congress next year and continuing under the next Republican president, we need an all-out effort to defeat violent crime in America and strongly defeat it. And be tough. And be nasty and be mean if we have to.\u201d<\/p>\n
Trump outlined his vision for the Republican Party\u2019s approach to crime. He talked about supporting police officers, while putting forth a series of policy ideas \u2014 from returning to the historically racist policing tactic of stop-and-frisk, to imposing the death penalty for drug dealers to creating space for tents outside of cities to send homeless populations.<\/p>\n
\u201cExecute a drug dealer and you\u2019ll save 500 lives,\u201d Trump said.<\/p>\n
In the former president\u2019s tough talk on crime, there was no mention of his bipartisan achievement in getting the long-sought criminal justice reform measure<\/a>, the First Step Act, passed in 2018. It was seen as a potential shift in the GOP\u2019s tough-on-crime mindset, a move toward rehabilitation and racial fairness. Now in 2022, in line with GOP messaging, Trump leaned into his attacks on Democratic-led cities, where he claimed crime is running rampant.<\/p>\n The speech was somewhat organized at the top, but gradually lost track toward the middle and end as Trump bounced around topics from immigration to attacking transgender rights and women\u2019s sports to Covid.<\/p>\n The Trump-friendly crowd was responsive, clapping and cheering in response to his remarks. Several of the former president\u2019s allies were spotted ahead of his speech. Ronna McDaniel, chair of the Republican National Committee; former White House advisers Stephen Miller and Kellyanne Conway; and former acting Attorney General Matt Whitaker were among those gathered at the Marriott Marquis.<\/p>\n Trump\u2019s speech also occurred amid yet another split-screen moment between himself and his former vice president, who also appears to be gearing up for a 2024 bid. Mike Pence spoke hours before Trump on Tuesday<\/a>, at the Young America\u2019s Foundation\u2019s signature event, unveiling his \u201cFreedom Agenda,\u201d which he was scheduled to present on Monday at the Heritage Foundation.<\/p>\n Pence, continuing his tight-rope walk when talking about his former boss, said that he and Trump have similar visions for the future of the party, and that the conservative movement is not \u201cdivided.\u201d<\/p>\n He said he didn\u2019t necessarily differ on issues with Trump \u2014 it\u2019s \u201cfocus\u201d where he sees some space between the two.<\/p>\n \u201cSome people may choose to focus on the past, but elections are about the future,\u201d Pence said, in an implicit critique of Trump. \u201cAnd I believe conservatives must focus on the future to win back America.\u201d<\/p>\n Meridith McGraw contributed to this report.<\/p>\n