By Gromer Jeffers Jr.
Former President Donald Trump on Monday urged Republican donors to continue to question his 2020 election loss, but simultaneously rally for victories in November’s midterm contests and beyond.
“Republicans cannot stop looking at the election, but we also have to go on and we have to go forward,” Trump told about 700 people gathered at a Dallas fundraiser for House Republican candidates. “We cannot stop looking. We have to find it, because otherwise they will do it again.”
Trump was the headline speaker at the event sponsored by the National Republican Campaign Committee, the political arm of GOP members of the U.S. House.
The fundraiser was closed to the public and media, but The Dallas Morning News obtained an audio recording of the former president’s speech. At 70 minutes it sprawled late into the Dallas evening.
While much of Trump’s remarks were about his successes as president, he often veered back into his grievances over his 2020 defeat to President Joe Biden.
There is no credible evidence that the 2020 election was stolen or fraudulent.
Still, Trump told the audience that Republicans would prevent a repeat of 2020 by “swamping” Democrats in the midterm elections.
“The more votes we get. The more difficult it is for them to cheat,” Trump said. “We’re going to turn out in massive numbers of deliver landslides so big that they’re not going to be able to rig it, or steal it.”
Trump said one of the reasons the GOP would score big in November is that America is rejecting the policies of Biden and Democrats. He even said a positive from his 2020 loss was Biden’s performance.
“The one good thing about this horrible election, this fake election, with the fake votes and fake ballots and using COVID… is that we see how bad of a job they do,” Trump said.
“This year we’re going to expand the map even further,” Trump added.
Throughout the speech Trump praised the crusade that swept him into the White House in 2016.
“The America First movement and the America First agenda has turned swing states into red states and it has turned blue states into swing states and we’re just getting started,” he said.
He said the Republican rout would continue past 2022, though he did not say whether he would run for the White House in 2024.
“Nov. 8 is not the end of our job. It’s just the beginning of our job,” Trump said of the midterm elections. “The opportunity for 2023 and 2024 and beyond is enormous.”
The former president said Republicans must continue to pound a message of border security, energy independence, while pushing conservative “culture.”
“We have to be fiercely pro police, strongly pro-parent, proudly pro-life, pro-God and confidently pro freedom,” Trump said.
The Dallas stop is the first of two Texas appearances this week. On Saturday he’s scheduled to stage a public rally in Austin.
Trump has endorsed numerous candidates in Texas elections, including May 24 runoff contests. His runoff choices included incumbent Attorney General Ken Paxton, who is trying to weather a GOP primary challenge from Texas Land Commissioner George P. Bush.
During his Dallas speech, Trump touted his 33-0 record this year in Texas races. He said he’s 55-0 in primaries nationwide.
“Last week in Ohio we saw the power of the America First movement,” Trump said, mentioning his successful backing of Republican Senate nominee J.D. Vance.
“He said some bad (expletive) about me,” Trump said of Vance. “He said horrible things about me, but then I look at everyone else and they were all saying bad things about me. If I went by that standard, I would never be able to endorse anybody.”
Trump also blasted names on his GOP enemies list. He said Rep. Liz Cheney, R-Wyoming, was at her lowest point ever in the polls. And he said he should have never endorsed Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky.
“How stupid was that?” he asked.
Cheney and McConnell have criticized Trump’s role in the Jan. 6th Capitol riot. Cheney voted for Trump’s impeachment that resulted from the riot.
