Trump has organized a campaign-like rally in Florida, with Reuters aiming to maintain a Republican focus

By Gabriella Borter

SARASOTA, Florida (Reuters) – Former U.S. President Donald Trump will hold a rally on Saturday in Sarasota, Florida, for the second time in a summer campaign before maintaining his grip on the Republican Party and strengthening allies. Mid-2022 election.

Demonstrations organized as the fourth celebration of fireworks in July will attract thousands of people across the state as Trump, a Republican, won more than 3 percentage points in the 2020 presidential election.

By the afternoon, several thousand people wearing reds, whites and blues had arrived at the Sarasota Fairgrounds for the demonstration, some wearing Trump 2024 T-shirts and waving American flags.

Trump is likely to falsely condemn President Joe Biden for falsely claiming that he lost the 2020 election and will demand his supporters support their allies in their midterm campaigns as Republicans struggle to hand over control of Congress to the Democratic Party next year. .

Jack Brill, president of the Sarasota County Republican Party, said he hopes the former president will use his speech to stop his supporters, both in the center and in the Florida government race.

“I hope that as the 2022 election progresses, everyone will be released,” Brill said.

The Sarasota incident is the latest to see Trump lose the election and return on January 6 in a public offensive against the Capitol, as his supporters claimed he had swapped the election.

About 53% of Republicans believe Trump has won and blamed his loss on illegal voting, and a quarter of the general public has admitted that Trump has won, according to a Reuters / Ipsos poll from May 17-19.

Trump made his first return on June 26 in Wellington, Ohio, where he stated his support for Max Miller’s former White House aide against U.S. Representative Anthony Gonzalez, who on January 6 voted to impeach Trump in a U.S. Capitol storm. .

Until 2024

Trump, 75, has hung up the chance to run for president again in 2024, and the 2021 series of rallies marks an effort to keep his base strong and in his camp.

Whether or not he runs may depend on the outcome of some anti-Trump investigation and litigation.

On Thursday, Trump’s company of the same name and its chief financial officer pleaded not guilty to criminal charges in an investigation into the alleged tax fraud in the Manhattan neighborhood. Trump has accused prosecutors of being politically motivated.

Many Republicans see it as an attractive opportunity to run for 2024 party candidate for Florida governor Ron DeSantis, 42. Trump’s longtime ally, DeSantis has led Republican-led fights to curb strict shutdowns against coronavirus, racial justice protests and widening access to the polls.

At a conservative meeting in Denver in June in 2024 to poll potential candidates, DeSantis finished ahead of Trump, ranging from 74% to 71%.

The DeSantis office said the governor is focused on winning the Florida election again next year, not reaching national offices.

Lindsay (NYSE 🙂 Gordon, a 35-year-old Sarasota resident who works in trade, said this is the third time he has attended a Trump rally and has expressed satisfaction with the former president. Trump has said he hopes to re-launch it, but DeSantis thinks it could be a better and less polarizing alternative.

“I think DeSantis would probably have had a better chance considering he was younger,” Gordon said. “Because it’s still new and fresh, there’s also an opportunity for people to understand where it’s coming from. There’s so much to deny.”

DeSantis was not attending Trump’s Sarasota rally, a spokesman said, as he plans to spend the weekend in Surfside, Florida, and rescuers have been searching for more than a week in the remains of a condominium building that killed at least 24 people. scores are missing.