At a rally in Ohio on Saturday, Donald Trump declared that the US presidential election in November will be the “most important date” in history, presenting his presidential campaign as a national turning point.
The former president also warned of a “bloodbath” if he is not elected, but it was unclear to what extent, and the assertion came in the midst of remarks about threats to the US auto sector, only days after clinching his place as the presumed Republican nominee.
The 77-year-old reiterated well-worn accusations that his opponent, President Joe Biden, is the “worst” president, telling rally attendees in Vandalia, Ohio, “The date — remember this, November 5 — I believe it’s going to be the most important date in the history of our country.”
“We’re going to put a 100% tariff on every single car that comes across the line, and you’re not going to be able to sell those cars if I get elected,” he declared, criticizing what he claimed to be Chinese intentions to produce cars in Mexico and sell them to Americans.
Now, if I am not elected, the entire country will be in a state of chaos and death. That is not even the half of it. It won’t even come close to that. However, they won’t sell those vehicles.
Biden’s team issued a statement after Trump’s remark went viral on social media, labeling the Republican a “loser” at the polls in 2020 who then “doubles down on his threats of political violence.”
Referring to the deadly assault on the US Capitol by Trump supporters in 2021, the campaign stated, “He wants another January 6 but the American people are going to give him another electoral defeat this November because they continue to reject his extremism, his affection for violence, and his thirst for revenge.”
Later, Biden cautioned of “an unprecedented moment in history” during his speech at a dinner in Washington.
“Freedom is being threatened… The biggest threat to our democracy since the American Civil War, according to him, is the disinformation surrounding the 2020 election, the scheme to rig it, and the embracing of the January 6 uprising.
“They failed in 2020, but the threat still exists.”
The 81-year-old tempered his rhetoric with humor and dismissed worries that he is too elderly to serve a second term.
About the presidential contest, he remarked, “One candidate is too old and mentally unfit to be president.” “I’m the other guy.”
border problems
In the 2024 presidential contest, Trump and Biden each secured enough delegates earlier this month to secure their party’s nominations, virtually guaranteeing a rematch and igniting one of the longest election campaigns in US history.
Trump is running on a platform that includes comprehensive reform of what he refers to as Biden’s “horror show” immigration policy, even though the former president was successful in getting Republicans to oppose a bill in Congress that would have implemented the strictest border security measures in decades.
In an effort to connect with minorities who have historically supported Democrats, he evoked the border once more on Saturday.
He warned that Hispanic Americans and African-American voters “will be the ones that suffer the most” and said that Biden had “repeatedly stabbed African-American voters in the back” by issuing work permits to “millions” of immigrants.
Ohio was long seen as a bellwether battleground state, but since Trump won the presidency in 2016, the state has shifted further in favor of the Republican Party.
The gathering was held the day after Mike Pence, the former vice president of Trump, declared he would not support his former boss for a second term in office.
