Speaking to Republican National Committee donors at Mar-a-Lago on Saturday, former US President Donald Trump focused on a host of sensitive issues, including the 2020 presidential election, which he reportedly described as "bulls**t".
The Washington Post cited an unnamed attendee as saying that Trump also hit out at former Vice President Mike Pence over the lack of "courage" to send the certification of the Electoral College votes back to state legislatures following the 3 November election.
"I like him [Pence] so much. I was disappointed", the ex-POTUS said, also scolding Senator Mitch McConnell, the former Republican Senate majority leader who earlier angered Trump after he blamed him for the January Capitol riots.
McConnell is a "dumb son of a bit*h", Trump said, according to CNN. The former US president has repeatedly denied responsibility for the 6 January violence, which saw scores of Trump supporters besiege the Capitol in a bid to prevent the certification of Democrat Joe Biden's victory in the 2020 election.
Trump Vows Adherence to GOP
During the Mar-a-Lago speech, Trump also pledged his commitment to the Republican Party, saying that he will help it win majorities in the House and the Senate in the 2022 midterm elections. He, however, remained tight-lipped on whether he will seek a second term in 2024.
"We are gathered tonight to talk about the future of the Republican Party - and what we must do to set our candidates on a course to victory. I stand before you this evening filled with confidence that in 2022, we are going to take back the House [of Representatives] and we are going to reclaim the Senate. And then in 2024, a Republican candidate is going to win the White House", Trump asserted.
The Republican Party lost its majority in the House in the 2018 midterm elections, following the GOP's eight-year control of the chamber. In 2022, the party will need just five seats in order to take back the House.
Ex-POTUS Touts 'Trumpcine'
Separately, he touched upon the COVID-19 vaccines, which the ex-POTUS claimed should actually be called "Trumpcine" by everyone, apparently to underscore his role in initiating the "Warp Speed" operation almost a year ago to create a vaccine to fight the coronavirus.
The Mar-a-Lago gathering also saw Trump referring to migrants as violent criminals "coming in from the Middle East".
"They're not sending their best people. You have murderers, you have rapists, you have drug dealers", he said, in an apparent nod to a growing surge of migrants near the nation's southern border.
The remarks came after Trump called such an increase a "spiraling tsunami", warning that under Biden the situation with refugees in the US "will soon be worse, more dangerous, and more out of control than ever before".