Orlando, Florida: Former President Donald Trump on Saturday denounced Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and said he had been praying for Ukrainians, praising Russian President Vladimir Putin since earlier this week. There was a change in tone.
Trump’s remarks at the CPAC conservative gathering in Florida came hours after the United States and allies announced sweeping new sanctions that would cut some Russian banks away from main global payment systems and push Russia’s central government to back the ruble. limit the capacity of the bank.
Addressing an enthusiastic crowd at an event touting himself as the world’s largest conservative gathering, Trump used his speech to bash Democratic President Joe Biden and again a potential run for president in 2024. indicated.
Earlier this week, Trump upset some members of the Republican Party by describing Putin’s actions in Ukraine, where cities have been called “talented” and “pretty knowledgeable” by Russian artillery and cruise missiles.
Trump expressed sympathy for the Ukrainians and this time praised Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky, calling him “brave” during his stay in the capital, Kiev.
“The Russian attack on Ukraine is appalling. We are praying for the proud people of Ukraine. God bless them all,” Trump said.
Trump said Putin took advantage of Democratic President Joe Biden’s “weakness” to attack Ukraine.
Trump linked the attack to the US 2020 presidential election, a determination he made, again falsely saying that fraud was to blame for Biden’s victory.
“As everyone understands, this terrible disaster would never have happened if our election had not been rigged and if I had been president,” he said, to which a woman in the packed audience replied: “You are the president!”
Trump has not confirmed that he will run for president again in 2024, but has hinted heavily on it recently and did so again on Saturday.
“On November 2024, they (Democrats) will find out like never before. We did it twice, and we’d do it again. We’re going to do it again for the third time,” Trump said.
Democratic attorney Mark Elias tweeted that Trump’s words should trigger “a series of legal requirements relating to his spending and disclosures.”
Trump’s main fundraising committee, known as Save America, has a cash pile of more than $100 million.
Trump blames Biden, world leaders
Before Trump announced this, George W. Bush and also cited Russia’s invasion of Georgia under Crimea: “I stand as the only president of the 21st century under whose watch Russia has not invaded another country.”
Trump addressed his previous praise of Putin, saying he was right that Putin was smart because he was outfoxing world leaders and institutions. “The real problem is that our leaders are dumb, dumb. So dumb,” he said.
In an interview released earlier on Saturday, Biden mocked Trump’s remarks that Putin is a “genius.”
“I put so much stock in Trump that Putin is a genius,” Biden said when he called himself a steady genius.
During the CPAC conference in Orlando, Florida, which kicks off on Sunday, conservatives have repeated the line that Putin decided to invade Ukraine because he knew Biden was “weak.” Republican politicians have largely avoided praising Putin, and hot-button domestic issues, such as masked mandates, have featured far more heavily than foreign policy.
Earlier on Saturday, JD Vance, the Republican candidate for the Ohio US Senate seat, said the American political class was fixated on Ukraine’s conflict over the loss of problems close to home, such as record crossings at the Mexican border.
“I’m being told that we have to care more for people 6,000 miles away than my mom, and my grandparents, and all the kids affected by this crisis,” said the venture capitalist and Vance. Author.