“I am the only candidate who can make this promise: I will prevent World War Three,” Trump said.
He took aim at several specific Republicans, telling the CPAC crowd the GOP is “never going back to the party of Paul Ryan, Karl Rove and Jeb Bush,” referring to the former House speaker, former George W. Bush aide and former Florida governor. He also criticized Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell and Utah Sen. Mitt Romney by name.
Trump also suggested – as Biden had in his State of the Union speech – that some Republicans have argued for reforms to Social Security and Medicare as part of efforts to cut spending and reform government.
“We’re not going back to people that want to destroy our great Social Security system – even some in our own party; I wonder who that might be – who want to raise the minimum age of Social Security to 70, 75 or even 80 in some cases, and who are out to cut Medicare to a level that will be unrecognizable,” he said.
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Trump vowed to purge the government of “entrenched political dynasties in both parties.”
“In 2016, I declared: I am your voice. Today, I add: I am your warrior. I am your justice. And for those who have been wronged and betrayed: I am your retribution,” Trump said. “Not going to let this happen. … I will totally obliterate the deep state. I will fire the unelected bureaucrats and shadow forces who have weaponized our justice system like it has never been weaponized before. And I will put the people back in charge of this country again.”
Trump’s remarks targeting transgender people seemed to draw the biggest applause Saturday. He said he would sign a measure “prohibiting child sexual mutilation in all 50 states,” and said he would “keep men out of women’s sports.”
Trump claimed that the country, as he sees it, “will be lost forever” if he does not prevail in 2024.
“This is the final battle – they know it, I know it, you know it, everybody knows it. Either they win, or we win. And I promise you this: If you put me back in the White House, their reign will be over, and America will be a free nation once again,” Trump said.