Saturday, July 27, 2024


HE WILL DECLARE HIMSELF EMPEROR


Trump Tells Christians They Won’t Have to Vote in Future: ‘We’ll Have It Fixed’

Charisma Madarang
Fri, July 26, 2024 





Donald Trump, the former president who double downed on his ambitions of being a dictator, told a crowd gathered in West Palm Beach on Friday that if elected for a second term, they “won’t have to vote anymore.”

At the Florida summit, hosted by conservative group Turning Point Action, Trump promised that if he wins in November, he would “once again appoint rock-solid conservative judges who will protect religious liberty.”

After repeating his usual unfounded claims about mail-in voting, Trump launched into an appeal directed at Christian voters. “Christians, get out and vote!” yelled Trump. “Just this time. You won’t have to do it anymore. Four more years. You know what? It’ll be fixed! It’ll be fine! You won’t have to vote anymore, my beautiful Christians. I love you, Christians!” He added, “You gotta get out and vote. In four years, you don’t have to vote again. We’ll have it fixed so good, you’re not gonna have to vote.”

In December 2023, during a town hall in Davenport, Iowa, when asked by Fox News’ Sean Hannity if he would “abuse power as retribution against anybody,” Trump replied: “Except for day one. I want to close the border, and I want to drill, drill, drill.”

The former president later defended his comments, and at the New York Young Republican Club’s 111th Annual Gala less than a week later, Trump said, “I didn’t say that. I said I want to be a dictator for one day. You know why I wanted to be a dictator? Because I want a wall, and I want to drill, drill, drill.”

Trump has also called for the termination of the Constitution in order to overturn the 2020 election results following his loss to President Joe Biden. In December 2022, during one of his rants on Truth Social, he incorrectly called himself the “rightful winner” and claimed that “Massive Fraud of this type and magnitude allows for the termination of all rules, regulations, and articles, even those found in the Constitution.”

Following Biden exiting the 2024 presidential race last weekend and endorsing Vice President Kamala Harris as the Democratic nominee, Trump is now set to face the VP in the upcoming elections.

The convicted former president has been grasping at straws since then. Earlier this week, when baselessly accusing Harris of committing crimes, Trump referenced his own criminal record while bringing up the VP’s background as a courtroom prosecutor. Trump also backed out of his previous vow to debate “ANYTIME, ANYWHERE, ANYPLACE,” and demanded the showdown be hosted by Fox News, instead of ABC News. The former president’s communications director also said that Trump would not debate Harris “until Democrats formally decide on their nominee,” despite Trump previously debating Biden in June.


Trump urges Christians to vote, says they won't have to again if he wins 2024 election



Karissa Waddick, USA TODAY
Sat, July 27, 2024 

WASHINGTON – Former President Donald Trump implored Christians attending a summit hosted by the conservative group Turning Point Action to vote in November, saying they wouldn’t have to cast a ballot again if he wins the presidency because “it’ll be fixed.”

“I don't care how, but you have to get out and vote,” Trump told the crowd at Turning Point Action’s Believer’s Summit. “Christians get out and vote. Just this time. You won't have to do it anymore.”

“In four more years, you know what? It’ll be fixed. It’ll be fine. You won't have to vote anymore, my beautiful Christians,” Trump added during his 70-minute long speech. “We'll have it fixed so good. You're not going to have to vote.”

He delivered the comments during a keynote speech at Turning Point Action’s Believers’ Summit in West Palm Beach, Fla. The event was aimed at “empowering attendees with practical knowledge and strategies to live out their faith boldly and counteract the prevailing 'woke' narratives with grace, truth, and conviction, rooted in the Gospel,” according to the group’s website.

Politically conservative Christian voters are a key segment of Trump’s base that he must turnout in order to prevail in November’s election.

Recent polls published since President Joe Biden exited the 2024 race show Trump’s lead in the race slipping. He is now neck-and-neck with likely Democratic nominee Vice President Kamala Harris.

Secret Service agents help former President Donald Trump leave his reelection campaign rally on July 13, 2024, in Butler, Pa., after he was injured in an assassination attempt.

In the aftermath of the assassination attempt against him, Trump has also emerged as an unlikely spiritual figurehead. During a speech at the Republican National Convention in mid-July, Trump said he felt like he had God on his side as bullets whizzed by, coming within inches of killing him.

If he wins the 2024 election, Trump won’t be able to run for the presidency again. The 22nd Amendment to the U.S. Constitution prevents presidents from serving more than twice.

But the GOP presidential nominee also has a history of using authoritarian rhetoric on the campaign trail. In December, he suggested that he would be a dictator for “one day” if elected again.

At a rally in Michigan last weekend, Trump hailed Xi Jinping of China as a “brilliant man” for ruling “with an iron fist” over the countries 1.4 billion people. He also praised Hungary’s Viktor Orbán and Russia’s Vladimir Putin as “tough” and “smart” leaders.

Trump is facing multiple felony charges for allegedly conspiring to overturn the results of the 2020 election. The ex-president has spread false claims that widespread voter fraud led him to lose the race to President Joe Biden. There is no evidence to back the claims.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Trump tells Christians to vote, says they won't have to again if he wins


Trump tells Christians they won't have to vote after this election

Tim Reid
Updated Sat, July 27, 2024 


Republican presidential nominee and former U.S. President Donald Trump attends The Believers Summit 2024 in West Palm Beach


By Tim Reid

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump told Christians on Friday that if they vote for him this November, "in four years, you don't have to vote again. We'll have it fixed so good, you're not gonna have to vote."

It was not clear what the former president meant by his remarks, in an election campaign where his Democratic opponents accuse him of being a threat to democracy, and after his attempt to overturn his 2020 defeat to President Joe Biden, an effort that led to the deadly insurrection at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.

The Trump campaign did not immediately respond to a request for clarification of his comments.

Trump was speaking at an event organized by the conservative group Turning Point Action in West Palm Beach, Florida.

Trump said: "Christians, get out and vote, just this time. "You won't have to do it anymore. Four more years, you know what, it will be fixed, it will be fine, you won't have to vote anymore, my beautiful Christians."

He added: "I love you Christians. I'm a Christian. I love you, get out, you gotta get out and vote. In four years, you don't have to vote again, we'll have it fixed so good you're not going to have to vote," Trump said.

In an interview with Fox News in December, Trump said that if he won the Nov. 5 election he would be a dictator, but only on "day one", to close the southern border with Mexico and expand oil drilling.

Democrats have seized on that comment. Trump has since said the remarks were a joke.

If Trump wins a second term in the White House, he can serve only four more years as president. U.S. presidents are limited to two terms, consecutive or not, under the U.S. Constitution.

In May, speaking at a National Rifle Association gathering, Trump quipped about serving more than two terms as president.

He referred to the presidency of Franklin D. Roosevelt, a Democrat, the only president to serve more than two terms. The two-term limit was added after Roosevelt's presidency.

"You know, FDR, 16 years - almost 16 years - he was four terms. I don't know, are we going to be considered three-term? Or two-term?" Trump asked the NRA crowd.

Trump's remarks on Friday pointed to the need for both parties to energize their base voters ahead of what will likely be a closely fought election. Trump has enjoyed loyal support from evangelicals in the past two elections.

The race has abruptly tightened after the decision by Biden to end his reelection bid and with his vice president, Kamala Harris, becoming the presumptive Democratic nominee.

Recent opinion polls show Trump's significant lead over Biden has been largely erased since the torch was passed to Harris.

Jason Singer, a Harris campaign spokesperson, in a statement did not directly address Trump's remarks about Christians not having to vote again.

Singer described Trump's overall speech as "bizarre" and "backward looking".

(Reporting by Tim Reid; Editing by Daniel Wallis)

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