Former President Donald Trump marked his return to Washington, D.C., with a surprisingly disciplined policy speech, portraying in graphic terms the crime spike being experienced under President Joe Biden.
“America first must mean safety first,” Trump said Tuesday at the America First Agenda Summit.
“There is no respect for the law, and there certainly is no order,” he added. “It has to stop and it has to stop now.”
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His policy pitches included sending the National Guard to problem communities and resettling homeless people on city outskirts where they would have access to government resources.
“There should be a squad car on every corner if that’s what it takes to stop the killing,” he said. “You execute a drug dealer and you save 500 lives.”
More broadly, Trump described the United States as a “beggar country,” “literally brought to its knees” by economic and social attacks “on civilization itself.”
But the former president provided a glimmer of hope if Republicans are restored to power after “a historic midterm election” this November.
“People are going to vote to stop the destruction of our country, and they’re going to vote to rescue America’s future,” he said.
The America First Policy Institute hosted Trump on Tuesday, an organization staffed by many of his former aides. One member of the friendly crowd welcomed him by shouting, “We love you, Mr. President.” Yet he did not engage, even when another person yelled, “Four more years!” However, he did go off script talking about safeguarding women’s sports when he pretended to be a basketball coach.
Trump’s vice president, Mike Pence, also spoke in D.C. Tuesday morning, announcing his future-focused freedom agenda, a precursor to a likely 2024 campaign.
While the Jan. 6 House committee’s public hearings have pitted the pair against one another, Pence downplayed any animosity, at least in front of an audience.
“I don’t know that the president and I differ on issues, but we may differ on focus,” Pence said of Trump at Young America’s Foundation’s annual conference. “I believe elections are about the future.”
Democrats reveled in the fodder Trump offered them before the midterm cycle, though the White House did counter-program his remarks with press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre’s briefing.
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“Donald Trump lost to Joe Biden by over 7 million votes, and he would lose again,” Democratic National Committee senior adviser Cedric Richmond said. “But if Donald Trump wants to talk about crime, he should explain why he incited a mob to violently attack police officers defending the Capitol, or why he proposed massive cuts to community policing programs, or why his MAGA Republican allies voted against funding that has bolstered law enforcement.”
