Donald Trump introduced his newest supporter to an enthusiastic audience in New Hampshire on Tuesday night, saying Vivek Ramaswamy has a “big, beautiful, bright future” ahead of him after dropping out of the race.
He introduced his former rival as he called on the Republican Party to rally behind his candidacy ahead of the November election.
“It is time for the Republican Party to come together and move forward as one team. We must beat corrupt Joe Biden,” Trump said to ecstatic roars at Atkinson Country Club.
He took the stage in New Hampshire after 24 hours that would represent an extraordinary day of highs and lows for any other candidate.
It was pretty much business as usual for Trump.
President Donald Trump introduced Vivek Ramaswamy to an enthusiastic crowd in Atkinson, New Hampshire, on Tuesday evening after a whirlwind 24 hours
The enthusiastic fans offered Trump a chance to let off steam after an unpleasant morning in court
After defeating his rivals by 30 points Monday night in the Iowa caucuses – the first formal test of his popularity – he flew to New York for his $10 million libel trial, where a judge told potential jurors that another Jury had already found that the former president sexually abused columnist E. Jean Carroll in the 1990s.
Then it was back to the campaign trail to cap off another norm-breaking day in the former president's life.
And it ended with a chance to feature Ramaswamy, who dropped out a day earlier after a disappointing fourth-place finish in Iowa.
The 38-year-old biotech entrepreneur was quick to praise Trump as a leader who could bring stability to a country at war.
“It is between the permanent state and the ordinary citizen, between those of us who love the United States of America and a fringe minority who hate this country and what we stand for,” he said.
“And right now we need a commander in chief who will lead us to victory in this war.”
About five hundred people stood shoulder to shoulder in the basement ballroom.
They had to wait about four hours for Trump, whose arrival was delayed by snowstorms and freezing weather in the Northeast.
“It was a little bumpy tonight, I can tell you that,” he told his audience, describing how his pilot suggested the trip might not be a good idea, “but I’m glad we did it. “
Vivek dropped out of the race Monday night after finishing fourth in the Iowa caucuses
As of 7:30 a.m., Trump had more than 51 percent of the vote, with Haley and DeSantis in second and third place
After dispatching his opponents in Iowa,
And at the end of his speech he described his schedule for the next few days.
“I'm going on a Biden witch hunt. And then I come here in the afternoon and stop and we give speeches and we get your votes and all that stuff,” he said.
“But no one has ever had to do that before.”
It was a chance for the excited fans to let off some steam after taking care of other business.
He scowled and grimaced as the judge in his New York libel trial addressed the jury. And then he hit the road and headed to New Hampshire before the opening statements.
The former president also faces four criminal cases and 91 indictments, as well as a defamation case.
He used his court appearances as a campaign tool, addressing reporters outside the courtroom and using what he calls “witch hunts” to rally his base and raise money.
He admitted as much last week after listening to closing arguments in the New York fraud trial against him. “I guess you would consider it part of the campaign,” he told reporters.
None of the accusations dampened the enthusiasm of the crowd in the Atkinson Country Club ballroom.
Hundreds of people braved freezing temperatures and a snowstorm to rally for Trump in Atkinson, New Hampshire, on Tuesday evening
Trump supporters filled the basement ballroom and waited four hours before Trump appeared
Michael Navaria, 57, a retired police officer who attended his first Trump rally with his wife, said supporters simply ignored details of the “witch hunt.”
'Absolutely. “It angers me that they are targeting him,” he said. “It’s so obviously political.”
He added that it was up to voters to choose the president, not the courts or lawyers. And Trump had an enviable record in office.
“Everything he says happens,” Navaria said.
Trump's court campaign is working so far. In Iowa, he won the state's election with 30 percent, prompting Gov. Ron DeSantis and former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley to both claim they were the only viable alternative to the former president.
He is leading the polls in New Hampshire but will face a stronger challenge there from Haley, who has gained traction with the state's more moderate electorate.
She launched a national ad Tuesday criticizing the possibility of a rematch between Trump and Biden in November.
“The two most unpopular politicians in America,” is how the ad describes them, saying that they are both “consumed by the chaos, negativity and grievances of the past.”