Donald Trump speech – latest: Trump kicks off 2024 campaign with attacks on trans rights and ‘radical racists’

Donald Trump launched the campaign on Saturday for the first time since announcing his bid for the 2024 White House election, visiting two states with early voting and brushing off criticism that his presidential race has started slowly.

Speaking at an event in New Hampshire before heading to South Carolina, he said, “I’m angrier and more committed than I’ve ever been.”

In Colombia, the former president spoke out against transgender rights and the teaching of critical racial theory, a once little-known academic concept that sparked protests from school boards and classroom bans in some states.

“We are going to stop the radical left racists and perverts who are trying to indoctrinate our youth, and we are going to get their Marxist hands off our children,” Trump said.

“We are going to defeat the cult of gender ideology and confirm that God created two genders: men and women. We will not allow men to play women’s sports.”

Several Republicans are considering their support for Donald Trump’s 2024 presidential campaign as he has yet to announce support for candidates in several states.

William Auden, the GOP chairman for Sumter County, South Carolina, said he is a fan of the former president but is keeping his options open.

“I haven’t decided yet,” said Mr. Auden. “We wait until everyone comes out. And just like in business, I don’t make a choice until we hear all the candidates.”

In South Carolina, there were several notable absences from Mr. Trump’s rally, including the state party chairman, five U.S. Republican state representatives, and U.S. Senator Tim Scott of South Carolina, himself nominated as a potential Republican presidential nominee.

At his rally, Mr. Trump tried to allay those fears by telling the crowd that he expects a wave of additional approvals from South Carolina and federal lawmakers within days.

Former UN Ambassador Nikki Haley fired a veiled shot at former President Donald Trump and President Joe Biden over their shared dreams of running for president in 2024.

The former Trump administration official was interviewed by Fox News when she took the opportunity to say that Washington needed a “younger generation” of leaders.

“I think we need the younger generation to come in and step up and really start making things right,” she said, adding, “Can I be that leader? Yes, I think I can be that leader.”

Donald Trump called Tyre Nichols’ death beating “terrible” and said “this shouldn’t have happened.”

The former president’s comments come a day after the city of Memphis released footage of the attack earlier this month.

The video shows a violent confrontation between unit officers and 29-year-old Nichols, during which officers can be seen punching him and using batons and a taser to subdue him as he called for his mother.

Donald Trump lashed out at Ron DeSantis and called him “disloyal” as Florida’s governor weighs in on the 2024 Republican nomination against his former political benefactor.

Mr. Trump spoke to Politico and CNN on his plane during his campaign in New Hampshire and South Carolina, two states that host the nation’s first primaries.

“When I hear that he can [run] I think it’s very disloyal,” Trump told reporters.

Mr. Trump criticized Mr. DeSantis for his track record during the Covid pandemic.

“There are Republican governors who have not closed their states,” Trump said. “They’re trying to rewrite history.”

He added, “Ron wouldn’t be governor if it wasn’t for me.”