President Donald Trump made his first public appearance since leaving the White House after the questionable 2020 election, and joked that he would have beat Joe Biden if the election had been free and fair, and then remarked that he may run in 2024 to beat the Democrats and entrenched political interests for a third time.”
“But who knows? Who knows? I may even decide to beat them for a third time, okay,” said President Trump as the audience began to roar with approval. “Beat them for a third time.”
TRUMP: "Who knows? I may even decide to beat them for a third time, okay?" pic.twitter.com/0tMnejIe12
— Breaking911 (@Breaking911) February 28, 2021
President Trump spent several moments of his speech decrying the 2020 election, which the majority of Republicans believe was stolen from President Trump by a myriad of different types of voter fraud, ranging from observers being kicked out while prefilled ballots were counted late at night, to voting machines being manipulated to ensure a Democrat win.
The 45th President also spoke extensively about the early failures of Joe Biden’s administration, which has already seen a massive number of Democrats disillusioned with their new president.
President Trump also took credit for the COVID-19 vaccine rollout now championed by Joe Biden, saying that the plan was put in place by his administration, and now Biden is simply benefiting from the good planning and hard negotiating tactics of the Trump administration.
In a recent appearance on Newsmax TV with Greg Kelly, President Trump refused to comment on 2024, but noted that he would not rule out a third run for president.
Notably missing from President Trump’s speech at CPAC 2021 is any mention of Republicans within his own party, who almost uniformly betrayed him in the days after the Capitol Hill protest on January 6. President Trump also has yet to comment on Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, who he called a “dour, sullen and unsmiling political hack,” and who was not invited to CPAC.