(Waco) Threatened by indictment, Donald Trump will hold his first campaign rally for the presidency on Saturday in Waco, Texas, the site of a deadly attack 30 years ago against a group of federal authorities.
The former US president, who falsely said he would be “arrested” in New York on March 21 for paying porn star Stormy Daniels, will take the stage at his “first rally at 5 p.m. ET for the 2024 election.”
The city of Waco, population 130,000, is regularly associated with the anti-government Davidian sect.
In the spring of 1993, the world was brought to a standstill for 51 days by the FBI’s siege of a ranch where armed followers of Guru David Koresh had stationed themselves. Seventy-six members of the unit, including 20 children, died in the farm fire. Four police officers were also killed.
Donald Trump’s campaign team did not respond to requests from AFP about the choice of Waco for the rally.
The former president, under the pressure of a 2020 election in Georgia and the threat of investigations into the management of classified White House archives, regularly appears to fall victim to a mysterious “shadow state.”
The spectacular FBI raid on his home in Florida? “Shocking abuse of power”. Two infamous congressional impeachment proceedings against him? “A Witch Hunt”.
Little dance steps
By returning to his rally base in Waco, where up to 15,000 people are expected, Donald Trump has reconnected with an exercise he loves. Scenes of the former president sketching out little dance steps or throwing his famous red hats into the crowd are now cult-like among his followers.
In Texas City, some of his supporters were already impatiently stamping their feet Friday evening, undeterred by their statue’s legal troubles.
Calling it an attempt to “silence” him, Kelly Heath, 49, told AFP, “Everything has been distorted to give him a bad image.
This evening in particular gives the Republican a chance to breathe new life into his campaign, which has not yet enjoyed the momentum expected despite most polls tipping him to win the primary.
The billionaire, who is pushing against all odds to instigate never-proven “fraud” in the 2020 election, has seen a section of the right — especially his wealthy donors — become the new champion of the right. 44.
The governor of Florida has not yet officially entered the race, but will undoubtedly be one of his biggest rivals for the Republican nomination in 2024.
