The former US president, who is threatened with indictment, protested his innocence at his first campaign rally for the US presidential election on Saturday in Texas.
By Le Figaro with AFP
Published on 03/26/2023 at 07:59
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Donald Trump at his first campaign rally in Waco, Texas March 25, 2023. LEAH MILLIS/ Portal
Donald Trump on Saturday in Waco, where he held his first campaign rally for the US presidential election, denied any “felony” and pleaded his innocence. When several thousand people turned out to applaud the billionaire’s rhetoric under the Texas sun, the crowd remained a far cry from the expected 15,000 people, local journalists noted.
“We represent a tremendous power behind Donald Trump, who is just waiting to be unleashed,” said one believer, Kelly Heath, 49, who traveled hundreds of miles from Georgia (southeast) to applaud his idol. “I love him, he is our savior,” added Marianna Bodrogi, a 69-year-old pensioner.
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The fan base remained far from the expected 15,000 people. LEAH MILLIS / Portal
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Donald Trump election rally in Waco, Texas March 25, 2023. GO NAKAMURA/ Portal
“Neither a felony, nor a misdemeanor, nor an affair”
The former US President, who is facing impeachment, has been threatening to arrest porn actress Stormy Daniels for more than a week shortly before she won a 2016 payment case in New York to determine if he was guilty of misrepresentation. a crime or violation of campaign finance laws, a crime by paying the actress money to buy her silence.
The billionaire earned a round of applause when he attacked the Manhattan Attorney in charge of the investigation, Alvin Bragg, and his colleagues, calling them “radical left-wing maniacs”. “The New York District Attorney, under the auspices and direction of the Washington DC Department of Injustice,” is conducting an investigation into “something that is neither a felony nor a misdemeanor nor an affair,” he told his followers, again denouncing a ” witch hunt”.
On March 21, he unsuccessfully tried to mobilize a wave of supporters on the streets of Manhattan to oppose what he presented as an imminent arrest, but nothing happened. “All presidents had mistresses. Why not him?” said Louis, a 72-year-old retiree, who is accompanied by his 16-year-old grandson, whom he describes as a “big fan” of Trump, although he’s not yet old enough to vote.
The former president also faces investigations into his lobbying work in the 2020 Georgia election and handling of classified White House records.
Place with high symbolic power
The former American President chose Waco, Texas, in the southern United States, to address his fans. 30 years ago, the city of 130,000 was the scene of a murderous attack on an anti-federal sect. In the spring of 1993, the world was suspended for 51 days by the FBI’s siege of a ranch where armed supporters of guru David Koresh were holed up. 76 members of the sect, including 20 children, were found dead after the ranch fire. Four police officers were also killed.
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Donald Trump made no reference to the drama, and a spokesman told the press that the Texas city was chosen because of its central location and easy access.
Among the booths selling the full range of Trump branding, from “Trump 2024” and “Trump Girl” hats to a white shirt that read, “God, the guns, Trump in Waco, Texas.” Because even if most polls so far show him as the winner of a primary, his campaign is struggling to achieve the expected momentum.
The billionaire, who against all odds continues to conjure up alleged “scams” that were never proven in the 2020 election, has seen a segment of the right – and particularly its wealthy donors – turn to new hard-right champion Ron DeSantis. 44, turned. Florida’s governor is yet to officially run, but will undoubtedly be one of his closest contenders for the 2024 Republican nomination. Fox News, once acquired by the billionaire, didn’t cover the Waco meeting at a minimum.