Former President Donald Trump painted a positive picture of the future for Republicans during his first rally of 2022, held in Arizona on Jan. 15.
“This is the year we are going to take back the House, we are going to take back the Senate, and we are going to take back America. This is so important. This is maybe the most important election we’ve ever had. I do believe that 2024 will be even more important. ... In 2024, we are going to take back the White House!”
Thousands of supporters gathered at Trump’s rally, his second in Arizona since he left office.
The former president described the crowd as a “sea of people” that stretched “as far as the eyes can see,” and urged the media members present to turn their cameras around. Trump used the crowd size to question the results of the 2020 election.
“I ran twice, and we won twice, and we did better the second time. ... This crowd is a massive symbol of what took place because the people are hungry for the truth, they want their country back,” Trump said.
“A person that comes here and has crowds that go further than any eye can see ... and has cars that stretch out for 25 miles—that’s not somebody that lost an election. And now because of it, our country is being destroyed.”
Trump spoke against the current state of the nation, but expressed hope that the situation will change, outlining an agenda that includes eliminating COVID-19 mandates, investigating the events of Jan. 6, 2021, and combating illegal immigration.
During his speech, Trump endorsed Kari Lake for Arizona governor while calling incumbent Gov. Doug Ducey, a Republican, a “terrible representative” of the state.
Lake, a former journalist, promised that she will eliminate mandates if she becomes governor. She also promised that she would help to ensure election integrity and address illegal immigration, including by finishing the border wall.
COVID-19 Mandates
Trump heavily criticized the Biden administration’s mandates, which he said are “absolutely decimating our economy.”He urged Americans to “tell Joe Biden the Americans’ health choices are none of his business. We can make our own choices.”
“With these decisions they’re making, they’re wrecking and devastating people’s lives: firing Americans from their jobs, forcing innocent children to grow up in masks, closing their schools—destroying education, crushing their development, demolishing their futures—[and] locking people in their homes,” Trump said.
“They’re truly hurting the American people. ... They’ve taken away their dignity. They’ve taken away their liberties. And I say enough is enough, and we are not going to take it anymore. This is the moment the Americans must take their lives and their future back. We have to do it. We have to be strong. It’s time for the radical Democrats to leave our families alone, leave our elderly alone, leave our children alone with their strong immune system.
“Big Pharma is making a fortune. Democrats are putting corporate profits over the rights of the American people. These corrupt, power-hungry lunatics need to hear us loud and clear: We are done having our lives controlled by politicians and Washington bureaucrats. We’re done with the mandates, including the mandates for frontline health care workers.”
Jan. 6 Probe
The former president said if Republicans regain control of Congress, they'll start an investigation into the events of Jan. 6, 2021, the day when the U.S. Capitol was breached.“We will immediately begin our own investigations into what happened—what really happened, because this is being totally whitewashed,” Trump said while denouncing the current Democratic-led House committee investigation of the Jan. 6 Capitol breach.
“January 6 has become the Democrat Party’s excuse to justify an unprecedented assault on Americans’ civil rights and liberties.”
He criticized the treatment of people who have been detained in the Jan. 6 investigation.
“Appalling persecution of political prisoners. What’s happening to those people in those jails ... the blatant abuse of power to harass their political opponents is disgraceful. It’s never happened to this extent,” Trump said.
“When it comes to January 6 defendants, most of whom were charged with non-violent offenses, partisan Democrats have celebrated their indefinite detention without trial. These people are living in hell. Let them fight. Let them see their lawyers. Let them go out. ... These people are being persecuted.”
“Let’s see how he could do without the protections that he got,” Trump said. “It’s a disgrace the way he shot Ashli.
Illegal Immigration
Trump said that if Republicans regain control of Congress, one of their top priorities will be to “stop the illegal flood of aliens across our southern border,” including human trafficking.Trump said Republicans plan to increase the number of ICE and Border Patrol officers in order to detain and deport illegal aliens.
“We should also pass a law that says that sanctuary city officials who knowingly release criminals will be charged as accessories in any future crimes,” he said.
The border situation changed from “best” to “worst” in the span of one year, according to Trump.
“Over 2 million illegal aliens have trespassed across our borders—but that’s also a fake number given by the press and others,” Trump said, noting that he believes that the number could be “10 times that amount.”
“I think we’re talking about tens of millions of people are pouring into this country. We see certain people, and we sort of lock it down. Well that’s the number, but it’s not. I think that it’s tens of millions of people, and these are not necessarily people we want in our country.”
Trump noted a “record number” of undocumented migrant children arriving across the border. He accused Democrats of pushing “very cruel policies [that] are pushing vulnerable youths into the arms of child smugglers, human traffickers, and very vicious criminal cartels.”
“What the criminal cartels are doing to women and children—unbelievable. The trafficking is mostly in women, [and] what they’re doing to women is horrible. Yet despite all of this ... the radical left are still hellbent on passing mass amnesty for illegal aliens,” he said.
