Former US President Donald Trump has announced plans to hold new rallies in Iowa and Georgia in the coming weeks in an interview for the Todd Starnes radio show.
"We're going to Iowa, we're going to Georgia, we're going to some others. You have to see the anger and enthusiasm, by the way, the anger of the people", Trump said.
The ex-POTUS brought up the rallies, arguing that Americans are angered by the policies of the current administration, specifically its handling of the evacuation from Afghanistan. Trump lambasted the Biden administration for abandoning billions of dollars' worth of equipment in the country for the Taliban* to use, and purportedly providing, among other things, a list of Afghans who used to help NATO.
"In the history of the world, there has never been a dumber withdrawal than what we had in Afghanistan. And it made our country look weak and stupid", the ex-POTUS said.
In his interview, the former president mentioned a variety of Democrat government officials and lawmakers' policies that he might address at his upcoming rallies. He namely slammed Biden's border policy, which Republicans claim has led to a surge in illegal migrant crossings over the southern border.
Trump also condemned the Democrats' plans for infrastructure reform and plans for changing the voting rights and rules for all states. The former president alleged that Democrat politicians, in fact, "hate" the US, but said he is struggling to understand why.
"I think [these politicians] are worse than Democrats. I think they’re communists, if you want to know the truth, because I really think they hate our country. Our country can’t go on like this", Trump said.
The former president also criticised the conduct of his fellow Republicans in Congress, arguing that they lack the unity the Democrats have. Trump suggested that had GOP lawmakers had it, they would have stopped the opposing party's efforts to pass infrastructure reform bills even without a majority – by using the limit on the debt ceiling. The US is bound to exceed this limit with the new big spending programmes in the works and the Democrats would need GOP votes in order to suspend the limit or permanently raise it.
Trump lost the 2020 election to Biden, but has repeatedly insisted that the Democrats "rigged" it. He, however, has failed to defend these claims in court. Trump has not yet announced whether or not he will be running again in 2024, but has repeatedly hinted at this possibility since his departure from the White House. The former president also enjoys high levels of support among GOP voters, as well as within the party itself, acting as its de-facto leader.
*The Taliban is a terrorist organisation outlawed in Russia and in many other countries.