Donald Trump’s claims that the 2020 presidential election had been rigged received a standing ovation from a crowd of young conservatives in Tampa Friday night.
At another point, he labeled the global climate crisis a “hoax” to be “conquered” by Republicans.
After arriving more than an hour late to his scheduled appearance at Turning Point USA’s Student Action Summit, the former president delivered a lengthy hour and a half speech in which he was furious at the Biden administration, the Democrats’ agenda, the border crisis — and dropped more hints he could use to change that in 2024.
‘Our country has never been in such a position. The election was stolen, it was rigged,” the former president said in his speech sponsored by Turning Point Action.
“I’ve run twice, won twice and done much better the second time than the first.”
Audiences at the Tampa Convention Center erupted in cheers — a departure from the lackluster reception his complaints about the 2020 race have received at recent campaign rallies.
And with another hint about his ambitions for 2024, Trump added: “And now we may just have to do it again.”
As the ex-president looked on approvingly, the crowd began to chant “Take it back.”
Trump’s electoral fraud message that resonates with young voters would be a major shift from incumbent Republicans’ warnings that voters are not interested in re-challenging the past.
Donald Trump took the stage at Turning Point’s Student Action Summit more than an hour after his scheduled performance
He then delivered a lengthy 90-minute speech less than 24 hours after holding a rally in Arizona
The mob of young conservatives was electrified by the former president and even cheered his 2020 election fraud claims
In another White House teasing near the end of his speech, Trump said, “If I agreed to remain silent, if I stayed home, if I announced that I would not run for office, the prosecution of Donald Trump would be stopped. ‘
“But that’s what they want me to do — and you know what, there’s no chance I’ll do that,” he added.
The former president’s son, Donald Trump Jr., opened up to his father in his first public speech since the death of his mother, Ivana Trump, just days ago.
“If I’m like Jeb with low energy, I hope you forgive me and make it happen this time,” said Don Jr. to supporters, citing 2016 Republican presidential candidate Jeb Bush.
But he was still at Saturday night’s event, he said, “because I know it matters and I know my mom wishes I was here.”
His speech and that of his father were sponsored by Turning Point Action.
Meanwhile, the battle lines for the 2024 election cycle appear to have been drawn during the multi-day Republican student event.
The multi-day event drew teens and young adult Republicans from across the country
The day before Trump’s speech, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis delivered a campaign-style speech to an enthusiastic audience on the first day of the summit Friday.
While insisting he is focusing on his Florida 2022 re-election, DeSantis has not ruled out facing Trump in a controversial GOP presidential primary — which has reportedly infuriated the former president, according to Politico.
Waved to the Biden administration, DeSantis made fun of the president’s COVID-19 diagnosis, wishing the country “a very speedy recovery from Joe Biden.”
He also praised his “leadership” on education and his public battle with Disney, while snapping photos of California Governor Gavin Newsom, who is widely seen as a Democratic hopeful in 2024 if Biden doesn’t join.
The popular Republican governor made no mention of Trump during his 30-minute speech.
Other potential 2024 GOP hopefuls speaking at the event included Missouri Senator Josh Hawley and Texas Senator Ted Cruz.
Trump’s appearance in Tampa comes after he received rare mocking comments from his rally crowd in Arizona on Friday night — prompting the confused ex-president to ask, “But you like me, right?”
DeSantis’ speech on Friday night hovered between a national political message and touting his achievements in Florida
His otherwise adoring audience was booed when Trump cited his recent endorsement of House GOP hopeful Eli Crane, who is running for Arizona’s 2nd congressional district despite allegedly having no ties to the state.
It was Trump’s second meeting in Arizona this year, held on behalf of governor candidate Kari Lake and Senate candidate Blake Masters.
At the rally, Trump also angered the House committee on Jan. 6, which last ended in a series of eight hearings on Thursday — though Vice Speaker Liz Cheney promised more would come in the fall.
“A friend of mine recently said I was the most persecuted person in the history of our country,” he said. “I thought about it and I felt, you know, he might be right.”
The panel’s eighth hearing revealed new information about what the former president was doing in the 187 minutes between when he urged his supporters to march to the Capitol in his “Stop the Steal” rally and when he told them to go home.
Lawmakers contrasted the images of Trump watching the violence unfold from the White House dining room and then-Vice President Mike Pence being chased out by his security detail and narrowly missing the rioters.
It also included audio from an unnamed White House security official who said Secret Service agents protecting Pence “began to fear for their own lives” and even called family to say goodbye.