Donald Trump opens the 2024 run, he says he is more committed than ever

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Donald Trump’s company was convicted of tax fraud for a scheme by top executives to avoid paying personal income taxes. Video / AP

Former US President Donald Trump kicked off his 2024 White House bid with a stop on Saturday in New Hampshire before heading to South Carolina, events in early voting states that marked the first campaign appearances since announcing his latest running over two months ago.

Starting right here as a candidate for president, Trump told party leaders at the New Hampshire GOPs annual meeting in Salem before an afternoon stop in Columbia to introduce his leadership team in South Carolina.

Trump and his allies hope that the events in states that have the most power to choose the nominee will offer a show of force behind the former president after a sluggish start to his campaign that left with many questioning his commitment to running again.

They said, He’s not doing rallies, he’s not campaigning. Maybe he lost that step, Trump said, addressing the criticism. But, he told the audience, I’m angrier now and I’m more focused now than ever.

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While he has spent the months since his announcement mostly at his Florida club and his nearby golf course, his aides insist they are busy behind the scenes. His campaign has opened a headquarters in Palm Beach, Florida, and is hiring staff. And in recent weeks, supporters have been reaching out to political operatives and elected officials to drum up support for Trump at a critical juncture when other Republicans are preparing their expected challenges.

In New Hampshire, Trump touted his campaign agenda, including immigration and crime, and said his policies would be the opposite of President Joe Biden’s. He cited the Democrats’ move to change the election calendar, which cost New Hampshire its primary seat, and accused Biden, a fifth-place finisher in New Hampshire in 2020, of shamefully throwing away a beloved political tradition. .

A crowd listens as former President Donald Trump speaks at the New Hampshire Republican State Committee’s 2023 annual meeting. Photo / AP

I hope you remember that during the general election, Trump told party members. Trump himself won the primary twice but lost the state each time to the Democrats.

While Trump remains the only declared 2024 presidential candidate, potential challengers, including Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, former Vice President Mike Pence and former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, who has been Trumps ambassador to the United Nations, is expected to start their campaign. in the coming months.

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In South Carolina, Gov. Henry McMaster, US Sen. Lindsey Graham and several members of the state’s congressional delegation attended Trumps event at the Statehouse.

Trumps team has struggled to line up support from South Carolina lawmakers, even some who had eagerly backed him in the past. Some said more than a year from primary voting is too soon to endorse or they are waiting to see who else enters the race. Others say it’s time for the party to transition Trump to a new generation of leadership.

South Carolina House Speaker Murrell Smith was among legislative leaders awaiting the Trumps’ arrival, though he said he was there not to make a formal endorsement but to welcome the former president to the state in his role as speaker. .

Former President Donald Trump speaks at the New Hampshire Republican State Committee 2023 annual meeting. Photo / AP

Otherwise, dozens of supporters crowded the ceremonial lobby between the State House and Senate, competing with reporters and camera crews for space between marble-topped tables and a life-sized bronze statue of former Vice President John C. Calhoun.

Dave Wilson, president of the conservative Christian nonprofit Palmetto Family, said some conservative voters may have concerns about Trump’s recent comments that Republicans who oppose abortion without exception have cost the party election in November.

It gives pause to some people within the conservative ranks of the Republican Party as to whether or not we need the process to work itself out, said Wilson, whose group is hosting Pence for a speech in 2021.

Donald Trump Jr. speaks in front of his father, former President Donald Trump in support of Marco Rubio’s campaign in Miami. Photo / AP

But Gerri McDaniel, who worked on Trumps 2016 campaign, rejected the idea that voters were ready to move on from the former president. Some in the media keep saying he is losing support. No, no, he said. It’s going to be bigger than ever because so many people are upset about what’s going on in Washington.

The South Carolina event was in some ways off-brand for the one-time reality television star who usually favors large rallies and has tried to cultivate an outward image. Rallies are expensive, and Trump added new financial challenges when he decided to start his campaign in November earlier than many had encouraged. As a result, he is subject to strict fundraising regulations and is prevented from using his well-funded leadership political action committee to pay for such events, which can cost several million dollars.

Trumps campaign, in its early stages, has already garnered controversy, especially when he had dinner with Holocaust-denying white nationalist Nick Fuentes and the rapper formerly known as Kanye West, who made a series of antisemitic comments. Trump has also been widely mocked for selling a series of digital trading cards depicting him as a superhero, a cowboy and an astronaut, among others.

He is the subject of a series of criminal investigations, including one into the discovery of hundreds of documents with classified markings at his Florida club and whether he obstructed justice by refusing to return them, as well also state and federal scrutiny of his efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 election, which he lost to Biden.

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However, Trump remains the only declared candidate in 2024, and early polls show him as the favorite to win his party’s nomination.

The gun has been fired, and the campaign season has begun, said Stephen Stepanek, outgoing chairman of the New Hampshire Republican Party. Trump announced that Stepanek will serve as a senior adviser for his campaign in the state.

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