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Trump Officially Launches Bid for Second Term


Wed 19 Jun 2019 | 11:50 AM
Yassmine Elsayed

U.S. President Donald Trump is now formally proceeding in his efforts to convince voters to give him another chance, that is, a new term in office.

Having launched his 2020 re-election campaign on Tuesday, Trump looked as if he was presenting himself as the same political insurgent who shook up the Washington establishment four years ago and who is now a victim of an attempted ouster by Democrats.

During a packed rally at an arena in Orlando, Florida, Trump revisited campaign themes from four years ago, decrying illegal immigration, the news media and his 2016 Democratic opponent, Hillary Clinton.

"Together we stared down a broken political establishment and we restored government by and for the people," Trump said. "As long as you keep this team in place, we have a tremendous way to go. Our future has never looked brighter or sharper."

On other hand, he warned that his Democratic challengers “would radically change the United States and seek to legalize migrants coming across the southern border so they could vote and boost the Democratic political base”.

Democrats "want to destroy our country as we know it" and that it's "not going to happen," Trump said.

"We believe our country should be a sanctuary for law-abiding citizens, not for criminal aliens," he added.

Around two dozen Democrats are competing for their party's nomination to face off against Trump in the November 2020 election, where, so far, former Vice President Joe Biden is leading the race.

Trump called his opponents a "radical left-wing mob" who would bring socialism to the United States.

"A vote for any Democrat in 2020 is a vote for the rise of radical socialism and the destruction of the American dream," he said.

Accompanied by his wife, Melania, and a large number of White House staff, Trump said: “Tonight I stand before you to officially launch my campaign for a second term as president of the United States". "I promise you, I will never ever let you down."

In a speech that lasted an hour and 20 minutes, Trump blasted the news media as "fake news," took credit for a strong economy, saying he was putting the heat on China on trade, promoting his proposal for a "space force," vowed to protect Americans' rights to own guns and wants to launch a space mission to Mars.

Meanwhile, Trump hinted on the issue of Special Counsel Robert Mueller's investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election. "We went through the biggest witch hunt in political history," said Trump. "It was all an illegal attempt to overturn the results of the election."