(States Newsroom) — Former President Donald Trump painted a bleak picture Saturday of what would happen to the United States should voters reelect Joe Biden to the Oval Office in November.
The front-runner in the 2024 GOP presidential primary, who made similar predictions ahead of the 2020 presidential election, told attendees at the Conservative Political Action Conference — known as CPAC — just outside Washington, D.C., that only he could provide America a better outcome.
Trump spoke as voters in South Carolina went to the polls there in the state’s presidential primary, which Trump won over his last major challenger, former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, though Haley has vowed to stay in the race through Super Tuesday.
“They’ll soon have us losing World War III. We won’t even be in World War III; we’ll be losing World War III with weapons the likes of which nobody has ever seen before,” Trump told attendees at the conference, an annual gathering of conservatives. “These are the stakes of this election. Our country is being destroyed. And the only thing standing between you and its obliteration is me. It’s true.”
Trump didn’t discuss any bills he would attempt to pass if sent back to the White House or executive actions he’d pursue, though he did say he would seek to enact the “largest deportation in the history of our country” and drill for more fossil fuels.
“The first and most urgent action when we win will be the sealing of the border, stopping the invasion, drill baby drill, send Joe Biden’s illegal aliens back home,” Trump said. “We’ll do all of those things and we’re gonna have to do them fast because no country can sustain what’s happening in our country.”
Trump rebuked the prosecutors that have brought civil and criminal cases against him since he lost the last presidential election.
That includes a case tied to the role Trump played in inciting his supporters to attack the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, as lawmakers inside counted Electoral College votes to certify Biden as the winner of the presidential election. Trump has asked the U.S. Supreme Court to delay the start of his trial in a federal district court in the District of Columbia on charges he tried to subvert the election as he pursues his claims of presidential immunity.
“We have to break out of the nightmare that we’re in,” Trump said. “And we have it in the grasp to make America richer and safer and stronger and prouder and more beautiful than ever before.”
Border security
Trump continued his campaign theme of disparaging undocumented immigrants traveling to the United States, saying that they are “destroying” the country.
“We have a border problem that’s 20 times worse than what we had in 2016,” Trump said. “And we’ll solve that one, too. But it’s gonna have to be very strong action, and it’s gonna have to happen fast before our country is just totally overwhelmed.”
The Pew Research Center reported that the U.S. Border Patrol had 250,000 encounters with migrants crossing the Southern border in December 2023, the highest monthly total on record. Pew noted the number of encounters slowed in 2020 due to the COVID-19 outbreak.
Maca Casado, director of Hispanic Media for Biden-Harris 2024, said in a written statement that Trump has “consistently demonized Latinos for his political gain.”
“Just days ago, we learned about Donald Trump’s plan to deploy combat soldiers to build mass detention camps and round up immigrants like cattle — and he thinks he can make a play for the Latino vote at CPAC of all places?” she said.
Trump claimed that if he were still president, the Hamas terrorist attacks on Israel wouldn’t have happened and that Russia would have never invaded Ukraine, starting off the war that’s lasted two years.
“The attack on Israel would have never happened. Remember, Iran was broke. They were broke,” Trump said. “Ukraine would have never happened. I talked to (Russian leader Vladimir) Putin a lot and got along with him well.”
Looking to general election
Trump also sought to rally his base during the speech, saying that the general election in November is crucial for him and his supporters.
“For hardworking Americans, November 5 will be our new liberation day; but for the liars and cheaters and fraudsters and sensors and imposters, who have commandeered our government, it will be their judgment day,” Trump said.
“When we win, the curtain closes on their corrupt reign and the sun rises on a bright new future for America,” he added. “That’s what we have to have. I believe it’s our last chance.”
Trump mentioned the South Carolina Republican primary toward the end of his nearly 90-minute speech, saying that if he lost, he was going to blame the organizers of CPAC for having him give a speech the same day as voters were heading to the polls. He also called out a CPAC host, Mercedes Schlapp, who was director of strategic communications in the White House during the Trump administration.
“So now I’m going to the place I’m supposed to be, I’m going to South Carolina,” Trump said. “I’m supposed to be there.”
“And if I do poorly, I’m gonna blame, I’m gonna blame Mercedes. Forget about that. I’m gonna blame Mercedes,” Trump said. “Because I am supposed to be there and I’m not there. And if I do poorly, I’m blaming everybody in this audience. But I think we’re going to do okay. And I just want to thank everybody.”
Biden-Harris 2024 Rapid Response Director Ammar Moussa said in a written statement on Trump’s CPAC speech that during Trump’s four years in office, “America lost more jobs than any president in modern history, women in more than 20 states have lost the freedom to make their own health care decisions because Trump overturned Roe, and the MAGA wing of the Republican Party lost their damn minds putting Trump’s quest for power over our democracy.”
“America already had the opportunity to choose if they wanted another four years of hell with Donald Trump’s chaos, division, and crazy — they said no — and will again in November.”
