Former President Donald Trump attended a rally in New Jersey on Saturday, again blaming President Joe Biden for the court cases he is facing as the probable Republican nominees prepare to square off in the November 2024 presidential election.

Blasting President Biden as “a total moron,” Trump repeatedly described the cases against him as politically motivated and timed to hurt his campaigning ability in front of a gathering of almost 100,000 people.

“He is a fool. “He’s not a smart man,” Trump stated about Biden. “I talk about him differently now because now the gloves are off.”

Lisa Fagan, a spokesman for the city of Wildwood, where the protest was held, told The Associated Press that she estimated a throng of approximately 100,000 people based on her personal observations on the ground Saturday, having witnessed “dozens” of prior events in the same place.

Several high-profile endorsers joined Trump on stage, including North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum and NFL Hall of Fame linebacker Lawrence Taylor, who pleaded guilty to misdemeanor criminal charges of sexual misconduct and patronizing an underage prostitute in New York in 2011.

The beachfront gathering, described by Rep. Jeff Van Drew, R-N.J., as the largest political gathering in state history, was intended to serve as a show of force at a critical time for Trump, who is facing dozens of felony charges in four separate criminal cases with the election less than six months away.

Massive Crow of Trump Supporters

Thousands of Trump supporters, dressed in “Never Surrender” T-shirts and red “Make America Great Again” hats, gathered onto the sand between the boardwalk and carnival attractions to meet the former Republican president hours before he took the stage.

“The everyday American people are 100% behind him,” said Doreen O’Neill, a 62-year-old Philadelphia nurse.

“They have to cheat and smear him and humiliate him in that courtroom every single day,” O’Neill stated. “This country is going to go insane if they steal the election again.”

Trump has repeatedly accused the Biden administration and Democratic leaders in New York of exploiting the court system to prevent his return to the White House. Prosecutors claim the former president breached the law to conceal an affair with a porn performer that would have jeopardized his first presidential campaign.

On Saturday, Trump said that even those he accuses of politically motivated indictments did not pursue every case they could, citing the boosts his campaign has received with each wave of accusations.

“I heard they were going to do a couple of other things and they said from Washington … ‘we’re indicting him into the White House,'” Trump stated. “They said, ‘Don’t do it.'”

Gag Order from New York Judge

While Trump seized on his legal difficulties on Saturday, a judge’s gag order — and the possibility of incarceration — limit his ability to publicly remark on witnesses, jurors, and anyone involved in the New York trial, which is anticipated to last most of the month. The court in the case has already fined Trump $9,000 for breaking the injunction and warned him he might face jail time if he does not comply.

The order makes no mention of Judge Juan M. Merchan, whom Trump described as “highly conflicted,” or District Attorney Alvin Bragg, both of whom Trump claimed are “doing the bidding for crooked Joe Biden.”

Trump’s role as a defendant has reduced his capacity to persuade voters on the campaign trail.

He spent last week’s off-day from court in Wisconsin and Michigan, both battleground states for the general election. And on Saturday, he campaigned with tens of thousands of voters in New Jersey, a solidly Democratic state.

Parts of New Jersey contain deep-red enclaves, and the southern shoreline in particular attracts tourists and summer homeowners from neighboring Pennsylvania, a vital swing state.

Saturday’s trip to the New Jersey Shore resort was not Trump’s first.

While president, Trump staged a rally in January 2020 to celebrate Van Drew, a New Jersey congressman who had recently defected from the Democratic Party to the Republican Party in response to the former president’s first impeachment.

Trump drew a crowd that lined the streets, packed bars, and supported countless merchants in what is typically a sleepy city in the winter. The summer season is almost here for the resort noted for its large beaches, boardwalk games, and shops.

Wildwood is located in New Jersey’s 2nd District, which Van Drew has served for three terms and includes all or part of six counties in southern New Jersey. It voted for Trump in 2016 and again in 2020, despite previously supporting Barack Obama.

NEW YORK — Rudy Giuliani was suspended from WABC Radio on Friday, and his daily show was discontinued for violating a station policy prohibiting him from making unproven 2020 election claims. Giuliani argued that the station’s prohibition is extremely broad and “a clear violation of free speech.”

Giuliani stated that he learned of WABC Radio owner John Catsimatidis’ decision through “a leak” to The New York Times. Catsimatidis revealed his decision by text message to The Associated Press.

Giuliani “left me with no option,” Catsimatidis told the Times, adding that the former New York City mayor had been cautioned twice not to discuss “fallacies of the November 2020 election.”

WABC Radio Suspends Rudy Giuliani For Flouting Ban On Discussing Discredited 2020 Election Claims

“And I get a text from him last night, and I get a text from him this morning that he refuses not to talk about it,” said the Republican billionaire, who has raised money for Donald Trump.

As Trump’s attorney, Giuliani played an important role in the former president’s efforts to reject the 2020 election results and continue in office.

Giuliani denied receiving advance notice of the prohibition.

“John is now telling reporters that I was informed ahead of time of these restrictions, which is demonstrably untrue,” Giuliani said in a statement. Later Friday, in a social media live broadcast, Giuliani said he has discussed charges of election fraud on his show for years, possibly on every program.

“If there was such a policy, I’d be crazy to keep doing it,” remarked Giuliani. “You think I’m a fool?”

WABC Radio Suspends Rudy Giuliani For Flouting Ban On Discussing Discredited 2020 Election Claims

According to a letter acquired by the AP from Catsimatidis to Giuliani dated Thursday, Giuliani was barred from discussing the 2020 elections.

The letter stated, “These specific topics include, but are not limited to, the legitimacy of the election results, allegations of fraud effectuated by election workers, and your personal lawsuits relating to these allegations.”

Giuliani’s spokesperson and adviser, Ted Goodman, said Giuliani was unaware of the directive until Thursday.

Giuliani stated in the statement that “WABC’s decision comes at a very suspicious time, just months before the 2024 election, and just as John and WABC continue to face pressure from Dominion Voting Systems and the lawyers for the Biden regime.”

Giuliani was among 18 persons accused by an Arizona grand jury late last month for their roles in a plot to overturn Trump’s 2020 election loss. At the time, his spokeswoman, Goodman, denounced “the continued weaponization of our justice system.”

Giuliani declared bankruptcy in December, shortly after a jury ordered him to pay $148 million to two former Georgia election workers for lying about their involvement in the 2020 election.

WABC Radio Suspends Rudy Giuliani For Flouting Ban On Discussing Discredited 2020 Election Claims

Despite the verdict, Giuliani continued to reiterate his stolen election accusations, arguing that he did nothing illegal and stating that he would pursue his claims even if it meant losing all of his money or being imprisoned.

The bankruptcy prompted a diverse coalition of creditors to come forward, including a supermarket employee who was arrested for patting him on the back, two election technology companies about which he spread conspiracy theories, a woman who claims he coerced her into sex, several of his former attorneys, the IRS, and Hunter Biden, who claims Giuliani illegally shared his data.

In early April, a New York bankruptcy judge permitted Giuliani to stay in his Florida condo, declining to rule on a creditors’ plea to force him to sell the Palm Beach house. However, the judge hinted at more “draconian” steps if the former mayor did not comply with requests for information on his spending habits. The next hearing on the matter is planned for Tuesday.

SOURCE – (AP)

Columbia, South Carolina – Donald Trump is well-known for his frequent, and often personal, assaults on top competitors like Joe Biden. He’s recently taken a similar approach to independent presidential contender Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

Among the recent attacks, Trump last week produced a roughly four-minute video online in which he branded Kennedy a “fake,” a “Democrat ‘Plant'” and a “Radical Left Liberal who’s been put in place” to support the Democratic president. Trump denounced the Kennedy family as “a bunch of lunatics.”

“He is not a Republican, so don’t think you’re going to vote for him and feel good,” the former president and likely Republican nominee wrote on Truth Social.

Directing such harsh comments at Kennedy may indicate that Trump and his campaign are concerned about the independent’s attempt in what is expected to be a close November race, in which a third-party candidate siphoning even a small percentage of support may sink one of the main candidates.

Six months after many Americans expressed unhappiness with a rematch between Trump and Biden on Election Day, Kennedy has offered himself as an alternative. Some of Kennedy’s themes, such as staunch support for Israel and condemnation of COVID-19 lockdowns, may appeal to conservative voters rather than Democrats.

Trump Is Increasingly Directing Personal Attacks Against Independent Rival Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

At this point, polls suggest that considerably more Republicans than Democrats like Kennedy, despite the fact that many Americans are unfamiliar with him. A February Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research poll found that 53% of Republicans viewed him favorably, compared to 30% of Democrats. In each case, around one-quarter stated they did not know enough about Kennedy to comment.

Kennedy’s campaign claims that he poses a threat to both Trump and Biden, who has received backing from various members of Kennedy’s own family and described the endorsements as “an incredible honor.” The president has mostly forgotten Kennedy, who fought him for the Democratic primary before running as an independent.

Kennedy has also challenged Trump to a debate at the Libertarian Party convention later this month, where both men will speak on separate days. Kennedy thinks Trump’s supporters are “wavering” in their allegiance.

But Kennedy has significant obstacles.

As an independent candidate, his name does not appear on ballots automatically. He has had to work to ensure ballot access in all 50 states, a process Kennedy says will be accomplished by the summer. According to his campaign, he has reached that milestone in five states (California, Delaware, Michigan, Oklahoma, and Utah), with enough signatures collected for eight more. In several states, officials have not validated the data.

Kennedy has stated that his relatively high performance in a few national polls causes him to believe he is competitive, even though horse-race polls are often untrustworthy this long out from an election. This is not a new pattern for third-party candidates in presidential races. During the 2016 campaign, early national polls showed that libertarian Gary Johnson had support in the high single or low double digits; he eventually received just about 3% of the popular vote.

Like a recent comedy gig in a Detroit suburb, supporters of Kennedy’s activities describe themselves as coming from all across the political spectrum, from individuals who normally support third-party presidential campaigns to dissatisfied Democratic and Republican voters. This included people who had previously supported Biden and Trump but are now disillusioned or uninterested in them.

Ben Carter, a White Lake, Michigan registered nurse, stated that he supported Trump in 2016 but “couldn’t do it again,” choosing Biden four years later. This year, Carter said he liked Kennedy’s willingness to tackle difficult issues, considering the independent candidate as eager to express unpleasant beliefs in a more appealing manner than Trump.

Trump Is Increasingly Directing Personal Attacks Against Independent Rival Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

“I simply don’t hear Kennedy going out and lying about things. “Trump, he just stands up in front of the camera and tells blatant lies about things we know are true,” Carter stated. “He has his opinions that you might not agree with, but I haven’t seen him stand up in front of a crowd and lie to people.”

Trump supporters said they are fascinated about Kennedy’s candidacy, even though they remain firmly committed to Trump.

“He’s super interesting,” Kim Hanson, a Hartford, Wisconsin-based financial consultant, remarked on the margins of Trump’s recent event in Waukesha. “I love hearing from him.”

However, Hanson, a Trump supporter, expressed concern that the novelty of voting for Kennedy would distract from Trump’s support.

“I am concerned about people voting for people they think aren’t going to get in, and they aren’t voting for Trump,” she stated.

Kennedy and Trump appear to agree on a few issues.

Kennedy, like Trump, has been a staunch supporter of Israel in its war against Hamas. In April, he stated that the prosecution of rioters who brutally attacked the United States Capitol on January 6, 2021, could be politically motivated, aligning himself with the false depiction promoted by Trump and his allies.

Kennedy criticized Trump, claiming that the attack on the Capitol occurred with Trump’s “encouragement” and “in the context of his delusion that the election was stolen from him.” But Kennedy also stated that if president, he would appoint a special counsel to investigate whether Trump loyalists were unfairly targeted for prosecution.

Kennedy has also accused Trump of economic harm to the middle class. Kennedy described pandemic-era lockdowns as “the worst thing he did to this country,” while conceding in the same address that Trump “gets blamed for a lot of things that he didn’t do.”

Kennedy, a longtime Catholic who describes himself as “pro-choice,” has adopted opposing views on abortion, as has Trump. He backed, then abandoned, the concept of a 15-week federal abortion ban but says he disagrees with Trump that the decision should be left to state governments.

Trump Is Increasingly Directing Personal Attacks Against Independent Rival Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

According to Bernard Tamas, a Valdosta State University professor who studies third-party presidential campaigns, Kennedy’s policy positions, such as his vaccine skepticism and staunch support for Israel in the war with Hamas, are “more likely to appeal to conservative voters,” an apparent threat to Trump at this point.

“It is quite possible that RFK will damage Trump more (than Biden), especially since there is unlikely to be any other moderate independent candidate for the never-Trumpers to vote for,” Tamas stated.

Tamas believes that even single-digit support for Kennedy might influence the general election outcome.“Losing even a small percent of votes to candidates like RFK Jr. could easily flip the election from one major party candidate to the other,” Tamas stated.

Brian Schimming, leader of the Wisconsin Republican Party, believes Kennedy will take support away from Trump and Biden, possibly from Trump earlier in the campaign but more from Biden later in the race. He claimed Republicans are more enthusiastic about the former president than Democrats are about the incumbent.

“But what does an incidental voter, or a voter who says to themselves consciously that they don’t feel strongly enough about either of these candidates, do?” remarked Schimming, a longtime Republican operative in Wisconsin. “In the end, they peel off votes from the weaker candidate because they’re dissatisfied, who in my mind is Biden.”

Desiree Sherdin, a small business owner from Germantown, Wisconsin, said during Trump’s event in her state that Kennedy’s opinions “tend to go left” of her own despite agreeing with his mistrust of vaccines. She said she would continue supporting Trump and expected many others to do the same.

“People who are loyal to Trump are fiercely loyal,” she stated.

SOURCE – (AP)