Former President Trump on Saturday painted a bleak picture of America under President Biden’s leadership, describing himself as a “political dissident” and as the country’s last hope to address its problems.
“For hard-working Americans, Nov. 5 will be our new Liberation Day,” Trump said in an address at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC). “But for the liars, and cheaters, and fraudsters, and censors and imposters who have commandeered our government, it will be their Judgment Day.”
“When we win, the curtain closes on their corrupt reign and the sun rises on a bright new future for America,” he added. “I believe it’s our last chance.”
Trump spoke to the crowd in Maryland on the same day as the South Carolina primary, but he made no mention of his GOP rival, Nikki Haley, over the course of the roughly 90-minute speech. Instead, he used dystopian rhetoric reminiscent of his 2017 inaugural speech about “American carnage” to warn of the risks of a second Biden term.
He repeatedly described the state of the country as the “Biden nightmare” and referred to his opponents as “thugs,” “tyrants” and “fascists.” He claimed “hordes” of migrants would stampede into the country, programs like Medicare and Social Security would “buckle” and law enforcement would “hunt” for conservatives.”
“If crooked Joe Biden and his thugs win in 2024, the worst is yet to come. Our country will go and sink to levels that were unimaginable,” Trump said.
Trump frequently bemoaned what he called the “weaponization” of government and law enforcement. The former president is facing 91 felony charges across four separate investigations. He was also ordered to pay $355 million as part of a civil fraud ruling in New York over his business practices, and a jury ordered him to pay $83 million in a defamation suit brought by writer E. Jean Carroll.
“Our country is being destroyed and the only thing standing between you and its obliteration is me,” Trump said.
“I stand before you today only as your past and hopefully future president, but as a proud political dissident. I am a dissident,” he added.
Inflation has dogged the Biden White House since it first spiked in late 2021, even as prices have cooled in recent months. The southern border has also become a political liability for Biden, with record-setting levels of apprehension taking place there in recent months.
But national statistics show the murder rate has declined since Biden took office, and the U.S. has produced more oil than any country in history during Biden’s presidency.
Trump is on track to become the Republican presidential nominee having won the first three primary contests and holding a comfortable lead in the remaining states on the calendar. His campaign projected he could win the necessary delegates to clinch the nomination no later than March 19.
Trump offered glimpses into what a second term of his own might look like. He said he would protect police immunity to crack down on crime and he would initiate the “largest deportation in the history of our country” to remove migrants who crossed the border illegally.
He claimed conflicts involving Israel and Ukraine would not have happened while he was in office, though he did not offer specific solutions for how he would address them if reelected.
The former president’s speech was otherwise stocked with lengthy anecdotes about his first term in office. He recounted at length a visit to Iraq while president, describing how the plane flew in the dark to keep the trip under wraps. That story interrupted another anecdote he was telling about relations with Mexico.
He repeatedly mentioned a military officer who he said went by the name “Raisin Cane.”
And Trump went on an extended riff in which he mocked Biden for struggling to find the stairs to exit the stage after speeches.
But Trump — who is 77 and would be 82 at the end of a second term — preemptively dismissed any suggestion that his tangents were a sign of mental decline.
“See, they’ll say, ‘He rambled, he’s cognitively impaired,’” Trump said. “No, it’s really the opposite. It’s total genius, you know that.”
