by Sharon Rondeau
(Jul. 5, 2021) — For approximately the first 40 minutes in a 91-minute campaign-style rally in Sarasota, FL Saturday night, 45th President of the United States Donald J. Trump berated White House occupant Joe Biden for dismantling his border policies and embracing Critical Race Theory (CRT), the Paris climate accord, and Biden’s actions leading to “energy-dependence” rather than the “independence” Trump had accomplished while president.
Video of the event provided by KTVU in San Francisco is headlined by, “Former President Donald J. Trump uses Sarasota, Florida rally to continue falsely claiming he won the 2020 election.”
While Trump did not use those words, he strongly suggested that the reported results of the November 3, 2020 presidential election are inaccurate. For its abbreviated reportage of the event, KTVU relied on a third-party “transcription” to say, “Former President Donald J. Trump held a rally in Sarasota, Florida on Saturday, July 3, 2021. During the 90-minute speech, Trump said the word ‘election’ a total of 41 times, most often accompanied by the words ‘stolen’ ‘rigged’ and ‘corrupt,’ according to transcription data provided by Trint.”
Since the election, the mainstream media has referred to Trump’s claims of election fraud as “false” and “baseless” without appearing to have inquired of him why he professes that belief.
At approximately the 30-minute mark, without offering specifics, the former businessman decried Thursday’s indictment of the Trump Organization, which he founded, and its CFO, Allan Weisselberg, for alleged “tax fraud” associated with “fringe benefits,” to which Weisselberg and Trump Organization attorneys entered a plea of “not guilty.”
Trump pointed to what he considers politically-motivated investigations and prosecutions of him and his business associates since he announced his run for president in June 2015 with the now-famous ride down the Trump Tower escalator with his wife, Melania. He went on to decry New York’s new policy of “no cash bail” and what he said is people’s fear of visiting Democrat-run cities. “They indict people for that,” he said, referring to the charges against his company, “but for murder, and for selling massive amounts of the worst drugs in the world that kill people left and right, that’s OK” (30:47). “Think of how unfair it is. Never before has New York City and their prosecutors or perhaps any prosecutors criminally charged a company or a person for fringe benefits…”
Further, he said, “Every abuse and attack they throw my way is solely because I have been fighting for you against the corrupt establishment; that’s all it is…You know how many investigations…? They’ve all seen this; Mueller, he spent $48 million; he saw it; they all saw it…But this last group, the radical left, they said, ‘Listen, we failed in Washington to get him; here’s the papers; see if you can take him out, New York.’ Radical-left New York. It’s because I have called for their — and I called them — out of the lies and exposed their incompetence and taken away their power, and perhaps most importantly, it’s because I got 75 million votes, and by the way, it’s probably a lot more than that, but that’s by far the most of any sitting president in history.”
On social media, Trump had made similar comments on Friday and Saturday.
According to The New York Times, Trump received 74,224,319 votes and 232 Electoral College votes, while Biden allegedly received 81,284,666 votes, with 306 Electoral College votes. The winner of the presidential contest must receive 270 or more electoral votes, which are assigned to the states based on population.
CNN reported Trump receiving 74,222,552 votes to Biden’s 81,283,786, with the same Electoral College figures as The Times. “CNN projects that Pennsylvania’s 20 electoral votes put native son Joe Biden above the 270 needed to become the 46th president of the United States,” CNN wrote on Election Day. “Born in Scranton, the former vice president and longtime Delaware senator defeated Donald Trump, the first president to lose a reelection bid since George H.W. Bush in 1992.”
Many observers thought it odd that Trump, with campaign rallies numbering in the tens of thousands during a pandemic, reportedly lost the election to Biden, who mainly campaigned from his home in Delaware and, when appearing in person, appeared to attract small groups of supporters. Trump remarked as much during the rally.
Pursuant to the election and between cheers from the audience, Trump asked (33:15), “…How many more would we have gotten with fair elections? How many? I can tell you; I think many millions and millions. But a lot of things are happening; watch; just stay tuned. I want to thank so many of the states; you look at what’s going on in some of the states; it’s incredible what they’re doing because they get it. And I’m far more popular now than on Election Day because the people have watched what the h*** has happened to our country in just a very short period of time…”
Switching his focus, Trump lauded as “warriors” several Florida congressmen and Republican Party leaders. “This is what made our country great…” he said in introduction to Rep. Greg Steube and others.
He thanked the Sarasota Police Department, Fire Department, and the Sarasota County Sheriff’s Department for their services associated with the rally and recognized media which have covered his events: Right Side Broadcasting Network (RSBN), which was recently banned from YouTube for a week; Newsmax and One America News Network (OANN).
In his typical rambling style, Trump turned to the weather (40:55), which he said “drenched” supporters as they awaited the rally. Pivoting abruptly, he said, “We had a lot of people came into this area; [sic] they came quickly, and with you came the storms and then you sat and you got drenched. Is everybody drenched? Well, you don’t have to worry about taking a shower tonight;…that water is so clean and nice. Each and every one of us here tonight is part of a movement unlike anything the world has ever seen before; it’s true. There’s never been a movement like this. You know, I know people, good people, they’ve gone into Republican primaries, Democrat primaries and they did really well, they came in second, third, fourth and they became famous for the rest of their lives and they’re commentators and they’re good.”
To cheers interspersed, he said, “We won the presidency. We changed the world. We gained respect all over the world for our country again, and wait ’til you see what’s gonna happen, because great, great things are going to happen for our country. There’s never been anything like it…”
Shifting to his administration’s accomplishments, Trump cited the tax cuts passed by Congress in late 2017, lower gasoline prices, “American energy independence” and the trade “deal” he forged with China after months of tense negotiations soured by “the plague,” or coronavirus.
Regarding North Korea, Trump said, “I got along with Kim Jong-Un; I got along with him great, and it was only a very corrupt election that slowed us down. But good things are gonna happen.”
As for the price of gas, he predicted, “…In a year from now, you’ll be extremely happy at $3.50 (a gallon), because it’s going to go a h*** of a lot higher.”
He touted the “strong economy” he claimed his administration fostered prior to the arrival of “the plague,” then stressed that “we did it again” after dealing with the crisis. “We’ve never had an economy like we had before, and we built it because the foundation was so strong. We had 160 million people working; we were never even close to that…”
“I was getting calls from people on the left, ‘Let’s get together.’… I was starting to see there was going to unity, and then we got hit by the plague,” he said. “…Had we not been hit by the plague, this country would be very unified. I really believe it…”
He then touted the development of “three vaccines” for the coronavirus in a short period of time which experts said would normally have required “3-5 years” to produce. “While Joe Biden now wants credit for all of our successes,…his radical agenda and far-left policies have already begun to destroy our country…”
At 53:00, Trump invoked pollster John McLaughlin, who he quoted as having said, “Sir, I will tell you: if you get 64 million or 65 million (votes), there is no way you can lose the election…I got 75 million and they said, ‘You lost the election.'”
Just before the 1:00:00 mark, he touted that “one of his greatest achievements” was exposing the mainstream media as “corrupt.”
He termed CRT as “pure, plain racism” which “has no place in our country.”
“With Joe Biden and the radical left, it’s always ‘America last,'” Trump said, in contrast with his “America First” policy.
Trump additionally cited his approach to “the steel industry,” “communist China” the Middle East, veterans’ issues, “the brutal socialist regime in Venezuela” in contrast with Biden’s. “And now he has done nothing to hold China responsible for unleashing the virus upon us and the rest of the world. As you probably noticed, the Democrats and the media are now admitting that I was right about virtually everything all along, almost everything. The virus came from the Chinese lab… Hydroxychloroquine works…they cost lives; I should have done it differently…’You should not take under any circumstances hydroxychloroquine’ and they would have said, ‘Horrible; you must take it,’ and I would have been happy…”
He recounted the “Russia” investigation as “a hoax” as well as the two impeachment attempts taken by the House of Representatives against him. “I said all these things…” Trump said in predicting what Biden would do if he ascended to the White House. At 1:07:50 he said, “I wonder what I will be proved right about next; perhaps it will be the election,” turning to the cheering crowd behind him.
“The evidence of fraud, irregularities and illegality is already overwhelming,” he continued, “and frankly, it was a long time ago. Democrats used COVID to cheat; they illegally changed the rules in the key states and mailed out millions and millions and millions of absentee ballots all over the place…”
He cited ballot-harvesting, “media” and “online censorship” as having contributed to the “most corrupt” election. He faulted the state of Georgia for purging “more than 100,000 voters off the voter rolls” after the election and not before.
“If we lost the election,…I wouldn’t have a crowd that goes beyond what the eye can see, that stays in a thunderstorm where they’re going, ‘Ladies and gentlemen, there are massive rains; we’re in the midst of a storm; there’s lightning; please, please go home,’ and nobody wants to go home…”
“And why didn’t Democrats get legislative approval mandated under the U.S. Constitution to change their election laws? They changed it without getting legislative approval.
“Information is coming out now in Arizona, Georgia, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, and except for weak Michigan state Republican senators…can you imagine Detroit?…You had people that refused to sign documents saying the election was over; they refused; two people, brave people…Detroit. Philadelphia: we have a U.S attorney in Philadelphia that says he wasn’t allowed to go and check Philadelphia; that’s a big statement. I’ll tell you who didn’t allow him some day; I’ll do it at my next rally, but can you imagine this? Because, you know, we have a ‘Deep State,’ too, in this country, and a Deep State, they work with the Democrats and the Republicans, and those are the Republicans I don’t like. In fact, those are Republicans that in many ways are worse than the Democrats.”
A forensic election audit is nearing an end in Maricopa County, AZ, with other states reportedly weighing launching similar scrutiny of the 2020 election.
Raising his voice, Trump said, “If Mitch McConnell had the courage and the guts, and if he was a real leader, he would have wanted to look into all the corruption that took place; he knew about it; during the presidential election a lot of these people sitting over here, they looked into it and they said, ‘That’s real…’, and our country may very well have been in a much different position than it is today…”
“…Mitch McConnell; the Republicans have to get themselves a real leader; you got some great senators, but they have to get themselves a real leader.
“And by the way,” he shouted immediately after, “who shot Ashli Babbitt?…We all saw the hand; we saw the gun. I spoke to her mother the other day, an incredible woman; she’s just devastated…if that were the other side, the person that did the shooting would be strung up and hung, OK? Now they don’t want to give the name,…but people know the name; people know where he came from, and it’s a terrible thing…there was no reason for it;…it’s gotta be released. And how come so many people are still in jail over January 6 when nobody paid a price for the fire and carnage and death that took place in Democrat-run cities throughout our country, including Antifa and BLM? How come? How come? And why are our Republicans leaders like McConnell afraid to take up the subject and talk about it? Disgrace to our country…”
“With me at the top of the ticket, not a single Republican House member lost their race for the first time in decades, not one. We were supposed to lose 25 seats, and we won 16…”
“who shot Ashli Babbitt?”
Slightly off topic, but still a pattern of and by the liberal left and the RINOs.
The alleged murder of Ashli Babbitt has become the symbol of a deep state that employs the tactic of avoidance of equal justice for all.
So too does the deep state avoid, evade, and obfuscate explaining why the phrase “natural born Citizen” does not appear in current USA citizenship and naturalization positive law documentation. If someone IS a natural born Citizen through positive law, then why not state so by including the phrase “natural born Citizen” in current laws?
Whereas the use of the word “is” is not defined in current USA citizenship and naturalization positive law documentation, so too the usage of the phrase “natural born Citizen” in positive law would not constitute defining same, as one TP&E website troll insinuates otherwise.
In case it was unclear the first time: Congress lacks the authority to define terms in the U.S. Constitution. So it is unsurprising that it hasn’t attempted to do so.
Congress may, of course, propose amendments to the U.S. Constitution; an amendment then could provide a definition. This is exactly what Laity, having no success in the courts, claims he is attempting to do.
And the U.S. Constitution, of course, delegates to Congress the ability to establish citizenship laws. But no one believes naturalized citizens are natural-born citizens.
How many Henries, eight perhaps, does it take to understand that this commenter is not asking for a definition, only the inclusion of the phrase “natural born Citizen” in citizenship/naturalization positive laws if the twisted world thinks that just being born in the USA makes that person a natural born Citizen? If indeed a person is a natural born Citizen by just being born in the USA regardless of the quantity of USA citizen parents, then why didn’t Congress include the modifiers “natural born” to the word “citizen” when they penned the 14th Amendment, too.
Your silly broken-record rebuttals equate to your dead end attempt to save face and avoid the real reason why “natural born” is not included in citizenship/naturalization laws.
The inclusion of a phrase into positive law would be providing a definition; why else would it be included? But, absent a constitutional amendment (or other express delegation already granted by the U.S. Constitution), Congress can’t do that for terms in the U.S. Constitution.
Judges, who are authorized to interpret terms in the U.S. Constitution, have consistently ruled those born in the United States are natural born citizens.
You would have to ask the drafters of the 14th Amendment why they didn’t draft it in the manner you suggest. Just as you would have to request current members of Congress to introduce legislation with the changes you desire.