A day after his arraignment in Washington, D.C., on federal charges regarding his alleged role in trying to overturn the results of the 2020 election, former President Donald Trump found himself in friendlier territory Friday.
"It's great to be back in Alabama with so many proud American patriots who stand for God, family, and country!" Trump said during the Alabama Republican Party's Summer Dinner in the state capital of Montgomery. "On Election Day 2024, we are going to evict crooked Joe Biden from the White House. We are going to expel the criminals and thugs from the halls of power in Washington, and we are going to make America great again."
Trump won Alabama's nine electoral votes by nearly 28 percentage points in 2016 and by nearly 26 in 2020.
Trump, the front-runner for the 2024 Republican nomination, is seeking a return to the White House amid myriad federal and state indictments. He has denied any wrongdoing and said the indictments are politically motivated by the Biden administration to thwart his efforts to regain the White House.
"From the beginning, our movement has been the only force in American politics that has ever dared to stand up to the entire corrupt political establishment," Trump said. "We said no to open borders, no to globalist trade deals, no to endless wars, and no to the godless values of the communist left. We always put America first.
"In response, our enemies unleashed an army of rabid left-wing lawyers, corrupt Marxist prosecutors, deranged government agents, and rogue intelligence officers to try to stop our movement. Remember the 51 intelligence officials that lied about [Hunter Biden's] laptop? They said, 'Oh, the laptop is Russia disinformation!' No, they all lied. Fifty-one of them lied. And it would have made a difference of about 11 points in the election, according to the pollsters."
As Trump has often said during his campaign, "They're not after me, they're after you.
"They want to take away my freedom because I will never let them take away your freedom," Trump said. "They want to silence me because I will never let them silence you. In the end, they're not after me, they're after you — and I'm just standing in their way."
Earlier in the day, Trump received endorsements from all six Alabama GOP U.S. representatives. He also has been endorsed by U.S. Sen. Tommy Tuberville and Lt. Gov. Will Ainsworth. The state's other U.S. senator, Katie Britt, and Gov. Kay Ivey have yet to endorse a candidate.
"I'm greatly honored to receive the endorsements of so many outstanding Alabama leaders," Trump said. "We have just about all of them that we were looking for. They have been warriors with me, and they know how we fight and they know how to fight. And they know that we win."