Trump says Biden 'surrounded by fascists' at New Jersey rally campaign trail return amid hush money trial
Former President Donald Trump at his New Jersey rally called on President Biden to return donations from "anti-Semites" and said the Democrat is "surrounded by fascists."
Former President Donald Trump on Saturday night said President Biden is "surrounded by fascists" at the White House running a "radicalized" Democratic Party, ripping his response to anti-Israel campus protests.
"He's surrendering our college campuses to anarchists, jihadist freaks and anti-American extremists who are trying to tear down our American flag," Trump told a crowd of tens of thousands in Wildwood, New Jersey. "They want to tear down every single place they go. They want to rip down our flag. The chaos and violence happening on our college campuses right now is all because Crooked Joe Biden doesn't know what the hell he's doing. Joe is weak."
"He's surrounded by fascists around the Oval Office. It's not him," Trump added. "He's not doing a very good at cheating on elections. He doesn't stand up to our enemies abroad. And he does not stand up to the extremists in his own party, the Democrat Party is becoming radicalized. It's becoming radical left, and they're going to lose our country."
Speaking before what his team deemed a "mega crowd" about 150 miles south of the New York City courthouse where he has been forced to spend most weekdays sitting silently through his felony hush money trial, Trump also claimed "the very same people who are funding the violent campus uprisings are also funding Joe Biden's campaign."
"Those people that you see putting up all that money for all those signs, You know, you can always tell a fake protest when every sign is beautifully made by a printer, all the same color green signs, everything," Trump said. "Tonight, I'm officially calling on Joe Biden and the Democratic National Committee to return the donations of all anti-Semites, American haters and financiers of chaos who have funded the chaos on our campuses. Return the money, Joe. They raised plenty of money."
REP. ISSA REACTS TO GROWING ANTISEMITISM WITHIN DEMOCRATIC PARTY AMID ANTI-ISRAEL CAMPUS PROTESTS
"When I'm president, we will not allow our colleges to be taken over by violent radicals," the presumptive Republican presidential nominee added. "And if you come here from another country and try to bring jihadism or anti-Americanism or anti-Semitism to our campuses, we will immediately deport you. You'll be out of that school."
The beachfront gathering, described by Rep. Jeff Van Drew, R-N.J., as the largest political gathering in state history, was designed to serve as a show of force at a critical moment for Trump, who is facing dozens of felony charges in four separate criminal cases with the election less than six months away.
Lisa Fagan, spokesperson for the city of Wildwood, told The Associated Press that she estimated a crowd of between 80,000 and 100,000 attendees, based off her own observations on the scene Saturday, having seen "dozens" of other events in the same space.
Trump was joined on stage by several high-level endorsers, including North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum, who is on the short list as one of Trump's vice presidential running mate contenders.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.