Donald Trump kicks off the presidential campaign in New Hampshire

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Donald Trump began his White House bid in New Hampshire, where he asserted that he won the 2020 election and framed Joe Bidens bid to move the first presidential primary outside the state as the president who takes revenge” for the “severe defeat” there three years earlier.

Trump, a former president and keynote speaker at a Republican State Committee meeting held at a high school in Salem, NH, on Saturday, vowed to a friendly crowd of supporters that he would make sure New Hampshire retains its primary first-in -country. status, should he return to the White House.

You have it, Trump said. You are first and you stay first.

Trump said he won the Republican presidential primary twice in New Hampshire and believes he has also won two general elections and said Bidens fifth place finish there in the 2020 Democratic primary is influencing the president’s bid to change the 2024 voting calendar. .

Now he is taking revenge (on) the voters of your state, by blatantly and shamefully destroying a beloved political tradition, Trump said. And I hope you remember that in the general election.

The Democratic National Committee has voted to place New Hampshire second on the 2024 presidential primary calendar, behind South Carolina and on the same day as Nevada, a move that drew opposition from states Republican Gov. Chris Sununu and local Democrats.

Sununu, who is also expected to challenge Biden for president, said last week that New Hampshire plans to vote first regardless, despite penalties the national party said states could face for refusing. that followed, USA Today reported.

The New Hampshire Republican Party has decided to keep the state first in the GOP primary lineup, according to Matt Mowers, former NHGOP executive director and a senior White House adviser to Trump, who said the lineup has served us well. country.

States that vote early have more say and influence than those that vote late in the process.

I think it’s a shame that Joe Bidens brought boss-style politics here, Mowers said. Hes rewarding states that supported him, where all he had to do was get an endorsement. But he leaves the state with arguably the most open political process in the country.

Trump spoke for less than an hour at the meeting on Saturday, where he laid out his early presidential agenda, which includes a series of plans to continue what he has started in his four years as president and undo the steps Biden has taken since defeating him in 2020, describing his time in office as a colossal failure.

It’s strange, but I think in the United States every day is April Fools Day, Trump said.

Trump has said he will crack down on illegal immigration by re-securing the border between Mexico and the United States, replace Chinese imports of essential goods with American-made products, and boost the economy by lowering taxes and ending Joe Bidens war on American energy. ”

He also said he would impose congressional term limits, implement a lifetime ban on lobbying by former members of Congress, steer America out of foolish foreign wars and defend the integrity of elections, which he suggested had been affected by early postal voting introduced during the pandemic.

Trump also returned to familiar refrains, leveling insults at political rivals, referring to President Biden as Brandon and the former speaker of the House as Crazy Nancy Pelosi.

He referred to the media gathering as fake news and brought up the laptop controversy involving the presidents son, Hunter Biden, alleging that the FBI covered up the massive corruption revealed on the computer by telling the media it was disinformation by Russia.

He also suggested that crime had risen because of calls for defunding the police, quipping, Go to New York. No one was prosecuted. I’m the only guy they’re after.

Judging from the interest, Trump’s presence in the Republican Party is still strong, despite his efforts to incite an insurrection in the US Capitol following his election defeat, which is still being investigated by the January 6 committee, and a laundry list of other criminal charges filed against him since he became president.

A representative of the New Hampshire GOP said Saturdays are the largest for an annual meeting, at about 90%, and hundreds of pro-Trump supporters, including a group of Proud Boys, a far-right, neo- fascist group, which gathered in the Salem High School Parking Lot. The annual meeting is an invitation-only event.

Outgoing NHGOP Chair Stephen Stepanek, whom Trump named as a senior adviser to his campaign, led the USA chant after the former president finished his remarks, and a state committeewoman was singled out for her support by Trump, after he shouted, We love you, while he was speaking.

However, while Trump boasts that he is ahead in the polls, the latest poll from the University of New Hampshire puts him 12 points behind another Republican presidential hopeful, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, in the Granite State.

Support for DeSantis, who has paid to send migrants to sanctuary states like Massachusetts, was also evident at the New Hampshire GOP caucus meeting, where his cardboard cutout was on display and set up tables for him.

Jim Mahoney/Boston Herald

Former President Donald Trump greets the crowd at the NHGOP convention at Salem High School in Salem, NH, on Saturday. (Jim Mahoney/Boston Herald)

Jim Mahoney/Boston Herald

Former president Donald Trump waves to the crowd after giving his speech at the NHGOP convention at Salem High School in Salem, NH, on Saturday. (Jim Mahoney/Boston Herald)

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