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ANAHEIM, Calif.: In a sometimes dark and crude speech, Donald Trump sought to win over California Republicans on Friday by complaining that the rich in Beverly Hills smell bad because they are denied water, repeating lies about widespread electoral fraud and calling in the police. to shoot the burglars.
While many of his remarks at the California Republican Party convention in Anaheim were familiar retreads of Trump’s attacks and grievances, his encouragement of violent retaliation against criminals marked an escalation of his long-standing message against criminality.
“We will immediately end all looting and theft. Very simply: if you rob a store, you can expect to be shot as you leave that store,” he said, drawing loud applause. “Shot!” » he added for emphasis.
Trump was one of several Republican presidential candidates who showed up at the event in this Democratic stronghold. Although there is little hope for any of them to defeat President Joe Biden here in a general election, California will play a vital role in the list of states voting March 5 in the so-called primaries of Super Tuesday.
With 169 delegates at stake, a victory in California would put a Republican presidential candidate much closer to the nomination. And a recent rule change could give an advantage to Trump, who is dominating the primary so far. If he wins more than 50 percent of the vote, he will receive every one of the state’s delegates.
A Public Policy Institute of California election survey released Wednesday, but conducted in late August and early September, found that Trump had the support of nearly half of likely Republican primary voters. DeSantis was far behind, with 14 percent, with the rest of the field trailing by single digits.
Trump’s comments Friday underscored a central question regarding Trump’s effort to return to the presidency. While his focus on red meat issues appeals to the Republican Party’s base, it’s not clear that he will appeal much to the broader set of voters needed to win a general election.
His remarks on crime, for example, were particularly pointed. In the past, Trump has proposed shooting migrants to prevent them from crossing the border. In his book and in interviews, former Defense Secretary Mark Esper claimed that Trump inquired about the possibility of shooting protesters during the George Floyd protests. He also proposed the death penalty for drug dealers, human traffickers and anyone convicted of killing a police officer.
During his first year in office, Trump advised police to be tougher in their treatment of apprehended suspects, telling recruits, “please don’t be too nice.”
“The news that they will shoot you will spread in minutes and our nation, in a day, will be a completely different place,” Trump said Friday. “There must be retaliation for the theft, destruction and ruin of our country. »
Homicides and other violent crimes have increased in California, where residents have also been inundated with headlines ranging from car burglaries and drug use in San Francisco’s troubled Tenderloin neighborhood to street racing and the illegal takeovers of a new $588 million bridge in Los Angeles.
Republicans view crime as a major issue that can help them win back some of the suburban voters who have turned away from the party since Trump became its leader and the Supreme Court struck down the constitutional right to abortion. Several GOP presidential candidates and other party members have particularly highlighted this week’s events in Philadelphia, where dozens of people are facing criminal charges after a night of social media-fueled chaos in which groups thieves, apparently working together, made their way into stores in several areas of the city.
Trump exploited California Republicans’ exhaustion with their state’s Democratic leaders, who he said had brought the state homelessness, open borders, high taxes, inequality, tech tyrants” and an increase in crime.
California was once a symbol of American prosperity and creativity, but it is “becoming a symbol of our nation’s decline,” Trump said.
“We will reverse America’s decline and end the desecration of your great state, California,” Trump said. “It’s no longer a big state. It’s a dump. You are a dump. The world is dumped in California. Prisoners. The Terrorists. Mentally ill people.
Trump told supporters that “help is on the way,” falsely claimed that his 30-point defeats here were the result of fraud, and improbably declared that he would win California in the general election of next year. He spoke out against the use of mail-in voting the same day the Republican National Committee launched its “Bank your Vote” initiative in New York, which urges Republicans to vote before Election Day. RNC Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel brushed off Trump’s lingering skepticism.
“I think we have to fight these battles, but also understand that once game day comes, it’s the rules on the field that we have to follow and President Trump is very much on board with that.” , she said.
Trump was in California just two days after bypassing the second Republican debate held at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library northwest of Los Angeles, signaling once again that he saw no need to appear alongside lesser-known contenders.
Crowds at state party conventions tend to be made up of grassroots conservative activists, an ideal setting for the former president even as he faces criminal charges in four criminal cases.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina and entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy were also scheduled to speak at the two-day convention being held at a hotel near Disneyland.
Waiting in line to enter the ballroom, Dan Cox, an Orange County real estate agent and registered Republican, sported a red “Keep America Great” cap and tie, telegraphing his support for Trump. He lamented the rising prices that have put homeownership out of reach for many families in the state.
“I’m voting for someone who can get the job done,” he said, adding that he doesn’t trust Biden.
It’s no surprise that Democratic groups demonstrated near the convention venue.
“When the leading candidate of a major political party is indicted for trying to overturn a free and fair election, every voter needs to stop and think about the direction our country is heading,” said the county Democratic Party chairwoman of San Bernardino, Kristin Washington, in a statement. “The last thing any American needs is to experience this madness again.”
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