As well as resurrecting his claims about Jan 6, Mr Trump appealed to his base with an attack on immigrants crossing into the US from Mexico, claiming some had been deliberately decanted from prisons by Latin American countries.
His speech was punctuated with criticism of “stupid president” Joe Biden and other opponents, including Gavin Newsom, the California governor, who he has dubbed “New-Scum”.
Despite leading in the polls and securing the Republican nomination, Mr Trump’s rhetoric has alarmed many within his own party.
Mike Pence, his former vice-president, has said he will not endorse Mr Trump in November. Nikki Haley, his main challenger for the nomination, has also refused to back her former boss, as has Chris Christie, the former New Jersey governor.
Bill Cassidy, the Republican senator for Louisiana, said the former president’s remarks made voters worry about what a second Trump administration might bring.
“The general tone of the speech is why many Americans continue to wonder ‘should President Trump be president?’ That kind of rhetoric, it’s always on the edge – maybe doesn’t cross, maybe does, depending upon your perspective,” he said on NBC News on Sunday.
The Biden campaign wasted little time in seizing on Mr Trump’s remarks. “He wants another Jan 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,” said James Singer, a spokesman.
“This is who Donald Trump is – a loser who gets beat by over seven million votes and then, instead of appealing to a wider mainstream audience, doubles down on his threats of political violence.”
Steven Cheung, a Trump campaign spokesman, sought to defend the former president’s remarks, saying he was talking about the US economy and not threatening political violence. “Crooked Joe Biden and his campaign are engaging in deceptively out-of-context editing,” he said.
Emily Foster is a globe-trotting journalist based in the UK. Her articles offer readers a global perspective on international events, exploring complex geopolitical issues and providing a nuanced view of the world’s most pressing challenges.
