Former President Donald Trump told the California Republican Party Convention on Friday that he’s “all-in” for the 2024 election because he’s out to stop really “bad” and “dangerous” Democrats, including President Joe Biden.
“He’s the most corrupt president, the most incompetent president we’ve ever had,” Trump said about Biden. “But when they indicted me, and then again and again and again, I was never indicted. Now I’m setting records. Al Capone but not indicted so much. Alphonse Capone. If you looked at Al Capone in the wrong way, he’d kill you. He was not indicted like me. I was never indicted. I didn’t know when they taught me at the Wharton School of Finance. They didn’t talk about indictment.
“No, it’s a disgrace what’s happening. They weaponized elections, they have done everything. I mean, these are very bad people. But I used to talk relatively nicely about him. I wouldn’t go out of my way. I wouldn’t say the things I say now,” Trump continued.
“Now I’m just all in because these people are bad and they’re dangerous and we have to stop them. I wouldn’t say what I say now. I never did. I joke. I’d have a little fun with it, but I wouldn’t call him — I call him the worst president in history,” Trump said. “I call him the most corrupt president in history. And I call him the most incompetent president. Other than that, he’s doing a fabulous job I think, ladies and gentlemen. He’s doing a fabulous job.”
Trump remains well ahead of his Republican rivals for the GOP nomination in most surveys, and as such, he’s already considering who he wants to be his running mate.
He hasn’t named a potential VP candidate yet, but he appeared to eliminate several names during a campaign speech this week following the second Republican presidential primary debate: ‘None of the above.’
During a Wednesday speech in Michigan, Trump referred to the GOP candidates congregated in California for the second Republican primary debate as “all job candidates.”
“They’ll do anything: secretary of something, they even say VP. Has anyone seen a VP in that group? I don’t think so,” Trump told the crowd at an auto parts plant in Clinton Township.
Steven Cheung, a spokesman for the Trump campaign, told The Washington Post later in an email that Trump “was very clear in his remarks” though he didn’t say whether all seven of the candidates on the debate stage were hard no’s when it came to a running mate, though a couple of them probably are, such as Chris Christie and former Vice President Mike Pence.
That said, Trump name-dropped someone earlier this month.
“I think she’s fantastic,” Trump said in an interview regarding South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem. “She’s been a great governor. She gave me a very full-throated endorsement, a beautiful endorsement. It’s been a very good state for me, and certainly, she would be one of the people I would consider for something else, maybe. We have a lot of great people in the Republican Party.”
She officially endorsed Trump for the 2024 GOP nomination during a rally at Rapid City, leading to fresh rumors that she is on his short list as a running mate.
