Donald Trump warned Saturday that the next election would be America’s last chance for salvation as he attempted to revive a faltering third run for the White House in two US states that launched his winning 2016 presidential campaign.
Buffeted by political and legal headwinds, the 76-year-old Republican addressed a few hundred supporters at an intimate rally in South Carolina’s capital Columbia after speaking to grassroots activists in Salem, New Hampshire.
“The 2024 election is our one shot to save our country and we need a leader who’s ready to do that on day one,” Trump said from a podium beneath the Statehouse rotunda, flanked by American flags and some of his most loyal political allies.
The events were seen as a chance to revitalize a stuttering campaign amid criticism over Trump’s failure to make any public appearances since he announced his latest run in November.
But there was no discernible shift in his messaging as he launched into his debunked claims of a stolen 2020 election and reprised his litany of disparaging nicknames for his political rivals.
