WILDWOOD, N.J. — Former President Trump held a raucous rally in New Jersey, where on Saturday he confidently predicted he would easily win the Garden State on Election Day in November.
“We’re going to win New Jersey,” the GOP frontrunner told the crowd to exuberant cheers. U.S. Rep. Jeff Van Drew, R-N.J., who briefly shared the stage with Trump, dubbed the event as the largest political rally in the state of New Jersey. A spokesperson for the City of Wildwood told the Associated Press she estimated there were between 80,000 and 100,000 people at the rally.
Trump devoted much of his rally to attacking his Democratic rival, President Biden, whom he called a “moron” and the “worst president that we’ve ever had.”
Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump speaks during a campaign rally in Wildwood Beach in Wildwood, N.J., Saturday. (Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images)
“As you can see today, we’re expanding the electoral map because … we’re going to win the state of New Jersey,” Trump said. “I think we’re going to win them all. All across America, millions of people, so-called blue states, are joining our movement based on love, intelligence, and a thing called common sense.”
Trump took aim at Biden’s economic and border policies.
“The Biden price hikes are continuing to drain over $1,000 from the typical New Jersey family budget every single month,” Trump said, noting that the price of everything from hot dogs, to chicken, to gasoline and bacon, has gone up because of inflation.
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“On day one, we will throw out Bidenomics, and we will reinstate MAGAnomics,” he said. “And we’re going to bring manufacturing, tourism, and other industries back to New Jersey like we’ve never seen before.”
Several times, Trump goaded the rowdy crowd.
“You look at the Afghanistan disaster, you look at the border, you look at the economy — the real economy, not the fake economy — everything [Democrats] touch turns to what?” Trump asked the crowd, prompting the crowd to shout: “S—!”
People gather ahead of a campaign rally for Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump in Wildwood, N.J., Saturday. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)
Trump also attacked Biden’s response to the Israel war in Gaza and his alleged acquiescing to anti-Israel protesters on college campuses.
“He’s surrendering our college campuses to anarchists, jihadist freaks and anti-American extremists who are trying to tear down our American flag. They want to tear down every single place they go,” Trump said, before calling on Biden and the Democratic National Committee, “to return the donations of all anti-Semites, American haters, and financiers of chaos on our campuses.”
The rally comes as the GOP frontrunner is facing dozens of felony charges in four separate criminal cases with the election less than six months away. There is a real possibility that Trump could be a convicted felon by Election Day.
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Hours before he was scheduled to take the stage, thousands of Trump loyalists donning “Never Surrender” T-shirts and red “Make America Great Again” hats crowded onto the sand between the boardwalk and carnival rides to greet the former Republican president.
People gather ahead of a campaign rally for Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump in Wildwood, N.J., Saturday, May 11, 2024. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)
Trump’s extraordinary legal woes, which include three other unrelated criminal cases, have emerged as a central issue in the campaign.
Wildwood is in New Jersey’s 2nd District, which Van Drew has represented for three terms and covers all or part of six counties in southern New Jersey. It went for Trump in 2016 and again in 2020 after earlier backing Barack Obama.
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Trump is set to return to the courtroom next week, when key prosecution witness Michael Cohen, Trump’s fixer-turned-foe, is expected to take the witness stand.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
