Donald Trump continued his stump on the campaign trail on Saturday ahead of his rematch with President Joe Biden in the first presidential debate of 2024 scheduled for Thursday. Trump hit his usual marks, from attacking migrants and border complaints to touting his role in erasing women’s reproductive rights by appointing Supreme Court justices who ended the federal right to abortion access, and some other truly wild stuff in between.
The two candidates have taken different approaches in the lead-up to their upcoming debate. Biden has reportedly been at Camp David with his senior campaign aides preparing for the debate. Meanwhile, the presumptive GOP presidential nominee spent Saturday speaking at the conservative Faith & Freedom Coalition’s “Road to Majority” conference in Washington D.C. and held a rally in the swing state of Pennsylvania at Temple University in Philadelphia.
Trump brought up the debate during his Pennsylvania appearance, claiming that Biden will need some medicinal help. “They want to get him good and strong. So a little before debate time, he gets a shot in the ass — they want to strengthen him up,” he said. He added: “I’ll say he’ll come out all jacked up, right?” The unfounded accusation prompted some to allege that Trump spoke from his own treatment experiences.
Continuing with his fear-mongering regarding the U.S. border and migrants in the country, Trump proposed the dehumanizing idea to have migrants be made to fight against professional UFC fighters during both of his appearances on Saturday.
“I said, ‘Dana, Dana [White, President of Ultimate Fighting Championship], I have an idea for you to make a lot of money. You’re gonna go and start a new migrant fight league. Migrants, only migrants,’” Trump said during his Philadelphia speech, echoing what he proposed during his D.C. speech earlier in the day. “And then at the end of the year, the champion migrant is going to fight your champion.”
“And I hate to tell you, Dana, I think that migrant might win. That’s how tough they are. These are not, this is not a normal situation… These people are drug dealers, gang members, killers in so many different ways. Now, and we probably have 18 million we’ll have 20 million by the time we get this guy [Joe Biden] out of there,” Trump further claimed.
Earlier on Saturday, during his speech for Christian right group, Faith & Freedom Coalition in D.C., he talked about his favoring having the Ten Commandments posted at schools. “Has anybody read ‘the Thou Shall Not Steal?’,” he said, teeing himself up for one of his favorite subjects: falsely claiming that he lost the 2020 election due to stolen votes — never mind other commandments, such as Thou Shalt Not Commit Adultery.
During his D.C. speech, he played martyr as well. “I have the wounds all over my body,” he claimed. “If I took this shirt off you’d see a beautiful, beautiful person.” He didn’t follow through with removing his clothing, thankfully, but added: “But you’d see wounds all over. All over me. I’ve taken a lot of wounds, I can tell you. More than I expect any president ever.” It appears he may have forgotten about the assassinations of Abraham Lincoln, James A. Garfield, William McKinley, John F. Kennedy, and also the assassination attempt on Ronald Reagan.
Trump also took credit for the eradication of Roe v. Wade. “I want to thank the six Supreme Court justices — Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito, John Roberts, Brett Kavanaugh, Neil Gorsuch, and Amy Coney Barrett — for the wisdom and the courage they showed for the wisdom and courage to end Roe v. Wade,” Trump said during his appearance in D.C.
Biden and Trump’s debate on Thursday will be hosted by CNN in Atlanta at 9 p.m. ET, with CNN anchors Jake Tapper and Dana Bash serving as moderators.