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Former President Donald J. Trump, on a day set aside to celebrate those who have defended America in uniform, promised to honor veterans in part by attacking what he described as America’s greatest enemy: the political left.
Using inflammatory and dehumanizing language to refer to his opponents, Trump vowed to “root out” what he called “the radical left thugs living like vermin within the confines of our country.”
“The threat from outside forces is far less sinister, dangerous and serious than the internal threat,” Trump said Saturday in a nearly two-hour Veterans Day speech in Claremont, New Hampshire.
He also promised to take care of America’s veterans, reviving a hyperbolic claim he made throughout his 2016 campaign that Democrats “treat illegal aliens who just arrived in our country better than they treat our veterans.”
And he said he would divert money currently earmarked “for the shelter and transportation of illegal aliens” to provide shelter and treatment for homeless military veterans.
Here are some of the most notable elements of Mr. Trump’s Veterans Day speech.
Courtroom cameras
Trump, who faces a civil fraud trial in New York and four criminal indictments, said in a radio interview earlier this week that he would appreciate cameras in the courtroom. Saturday went further.
“I want the whole world to see this trial,” Trump told a cheering crowd, referring to his federal election trial in Washington. “The prosecution wants to continue this farce in the dark and I want sunlight.”
Trump, who has denounced the prosecutions he faces as politically motivated and accused President Biden of weaponizing the Justice Department, said he was convinced that Americans who witnessed the trial would come to his point of view.
“Everyone in the United States and elsewhere should have the opportunity to study this case firsthand,” he said.
Trump’s comments came a day after his lawyers in the case filed papers arguing that those proceedings should be televised, backing a similar effort by other media organizations.
It was a rare case of the former president finding common ground with the mainstream media, which Trump repeatedly attacked on Saturday.
Hands up
As he has done before, Trump again called for the execution of drug traffickers and praised China for making drug trafficking a capital crime. But in New Hampshire, a state where the opioid crisis has hit particularly hard, he turned to an informal poll to strengthen his case.
“Let’s vote,” Trump told the crowd. “Who would be in favor of the death penalty (wait, don’t go away yet) knowing that it will solve the problem?”
Most of the crowd raised their hands.
Fewer hands went up when Trump asked who would oppose such a move. When a woman emphatically raised her hand, Trump looked at her with a small smile and asked, “Are you a liberal?”
She shook her head violently indicating otherwise.
Disdained facts
Trump also repeated lies, falsehoods, exaggerations and half-truths he has routinely told on a range of issues, including gas prices, American energy independence, voter fraud and the 2020 election.
“I am a very proud election denier,” Trump said.
Insults thrown
Trump had previously refrained from commenting on persistent rumors about whether Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida wears heels in his cowboy boots, the subject of late-night jokes and social media gossip. But on Saturday he finally couldn’t resist.
After mocking DeSantis for courting Iowa farmers, Trump made an observation: “By the way, I don’t use elevators either. I don’t have six inch heels! The comment echoed a snub by Vivek Ramaswamy in Wednesday’s debate, where the businessman and author criticized the Florida governor.
He then did a clown impression of Mr. DeSantis leaving the stage at Wednesday night’s debate that looked like something out of Monty Python’s Ministry of Silly Walks. “I thought he was wearing ice skates,” Trump joked.
Trump also mocked Gov. Chris Sununu of New Hampshire, a Republican who has said Trump can’t win next year; Nancy Pelosi, former Democratic speaker of the House of Representatives; Hillary Clinton, his 2016 opponent; and Mr. Biden.
Praise given
Trump praised Dana White, the president of the Ultimate Fighting Championship. “There’s a guy I’d like to make my defense chief,” he said. “I wouldn’t call him my defense boss, I would call him my offensive boss.”
And he congratulated President Xi Jinping of China, of whom he said: “It’s like Central Casting. “There is no one in Hollywood who can play the role of President Xi: the looks, the strength, the voice.”