New York: Former US President Donald Trump has roared back into the political arena with a hint that he may run for office in 2024 and a jet of vitriol against members of his Republican Party not loyal to him, as well as Democrats.Speaking in public on Sunday for the first time since leaving office, Trump did not admit defeat in the November 3, 2020, election and instead said “I may even decide to defeat them a third time”.
He tamped down speculation that he may start a third party calling it fake news seeking to divide the Republican vote “so that you can never win”.”We have the Republican Party it’s going to unite and be stronger than ever before,” he said even as he announced an enemy’s list of several members of his party who voted for this impeachment or to convict him.He flexed his political muscle at the annual conference of the Conservative Political Action Committee (CPAC) where an informal poll showed that 68 per cent of the participants wanted him to run again and 95 per cent supported his policies.
The group represents the more conservative wing of the Republican Party reflecting his base and the crowd, many of them unmasked and not socially distanced, repeatedly chanted, “We love you”.Trump’s hold on a broad base of the party presents a dilemma for the party. He is a divisive figure who caused many unaffiliated voters and those in the middle to vote against him.Yet the party cannot win without his supporters.Trump said: “The only division is between a handful of Washington, D.C. establishment political hacks and everybody else all over the country.”He named the Republicans like Senator Mitt Romney and Representative Liz Cheney, who have criticised him and also voted against him during the impeachment, and said: “Get rid of them.”Trump criticised the Supreme Court, which rejected his case against the election of hi successor Joe Biden.The court has a conservative majority bolstered by his three nominees none of whom came to his rescue.”They should be ashamed of themselves for what they’ve done to our country. They didn’t have the guts or the courage to make the right decision.