Politics
Trump sets stage for 2024
He may have lost the White House and his social media megaphone but Donald Trump is reminding Americans of his ability to dominate the political conversation as he courts controversy on the comeback trail.
Surrounded by “Trump Won” flags at a rally Saturday in Texas, the loser of the 2020 election teased another run for president and dangled impunity for those who waged last year’s attack on the Capitol in a failed bid to halt the transfer of power to Joe Biden.
Trump claimed that those charged in the assault — characterized by the FBI as an act of domestic terror — were being “treated so unfairly” and vowed that “if it requires pardons, we will give them pardons.”
Perhaps attempting to reach beyond the few obscure TV channels carrying the rally live, Trump upped the ante by accusing a trio of Black prosecutors pursuing him over a panoply of alleged crimes as “racist.”
The 75-year-old property magnate urged his followers to launch “the biggest protests we have ever had” if the prosecutors “do anything wrong or illegal.”
The rally made headlines for its lawless, authoritarian tone but Trump set off bigger alarm bells the following day, repeating his false assertion that his vice president Mike Pence could have rejected Biden’s victories in a handful of crucial battleground states.
“Unfortunately, he didn’t exercise that power, he could have overturned the Election!” Trump railed, in perhaps the most explicit and self-incriminating statement yet of his intent.
Stubbornly pushing false allegations of widespread voter fraud that got him banned from Twitter and Facebook, Trump has argued all along that he was the rightful winner of the 2020 election.
But the former reality TV star’s Sunday statement rather gave the game away — making clear that his only aim was to wrestle victory back from Biden, not to resolve disputes over electoral votes.
‘Un-American’
In this file photo taken on December 7, 2020 -ex-US President Donald Trump looks on during a ceremony presenting the Presidential Medal of Freedom to wrestler Dan Gable in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, DC. AFP
It confirmed suspicions of bad faith raised when Trump was caught on tape trying to order a Georgia elections administrator to change its tally enough for him to win the state by a single vote.
“This is an admission, and a massively un-American statement,” outspoken Republican congressman Adam Kinzinger said of Trump’s latest outburst.
Kinzinger’s House colleague Liz Cheney, a party grandee turned pariah over her opposition to Trump, said the rally showed that Trump “clearly would do this all again if he were given the chance.”
Despite the mounting controversies, Trump remains by far the favorite for the Republican nomination in 2024 and is the party’s most successful fundraiser, with $122 million on hand.
As the Republican National Committee holds its winter meeting in the coming days in Salt Lake City, there are signs however that his iron grip is loosening.
A recent NBC poll found that 56 percent of Republicans now define themselves more as supporters of the party than of Trump.
Since he left office, several investigations — both criminal and civil, federal and state-level — have been launched into Trump’s suspected tax evasion, financial fraud, election interference, and other allegations, all of which the ex-president denies.
On Capitol Hill, the cross-party House committee investigating his role in the insurrection recently began receiving more than 700 documents from the National Archives from Trump’s time in the Oval Office.
‘Insane, Unconscionable, Unprecedented’
Trump sued to keep the trove secret, but the Biden administration chose not to support his privilege claims, and the courts sided with the committee.
In a bizarre signal of Trump’s disregard for convention, the Archives said some documents handed over from the White House had to be taped back together because they had been “torn up by former President Trump.”
Politico reported in 2018 that the White House employed staff whose jobs were partly to repair paper communications that Trump would routinely destroy, which is against the law.
Meanwhile, the Republican Party’s small core of lawmakers willing to call out Trump — including Kinzinger and Cheney, who are both on the Capitol assault committee — appears to be growing.
Saturday’s rally was a bridge too far even for Trump loyalist Lindsey Graham, who told CBS that talk of pardoning insurrectionists was “inappropriate” and would make a repeat of the storming of the Capitol “more likely.”
Tim Miller, the communications director for Jeb Bush’s 2016 presidential campaign, praised Kinzinger and Cheney for “saying what all of us see to be true… that this is absolutely insane, unconscionable, unprecedented.”
“The former president of the United States admitted in a statement that he wanted to overturn a free and fair democratic election to keep himself in power,” Miller told MSNBC on Monday, “that he tried to do it, that there was a plot to do it and that his only disappointment was that it didn’t work.”
The All Progressives Congress (APC) in Oyo State has called on Governor Seyi Makinde to resign immediately, alleging that his recent remarks on state security exposed incompetence and an inability to lead.
Governor Makinde, speaking during his acceptance speech as the Presidential candidate of the Allied Peoples Movement (APM) in Ibadan on Saturday, lamented that he could do little to rescue abducted school children and residents in Oriire Local Government Area due to all security structures being under federal control.
Reacting, APC State Publicity Secretary, Olawale Sadare, described the governor’s comments as “the height of cluelessness, insincerity, and criminal ineptitude,” warning that such disclosures reflect a dangerous trend among parochial leaders.
Sadare said, “Engr. Seyi Makinde could not find any fault in the nation’s Constitution, yet he swore twice to protect lives and properties of Oyo people. He has long enjoyed the powers of his office, controlling resources and people without challenge, but now faces a serious test, exposing incompetence, cluelessness, and ego.”
He added, “Instead of addressing security challenges, Makinde is exploiting the situation to push a mirage he calls a presidential ambition in 2027. His insensitive comments once again reveal hypocrisy. It is time he quit the office of the governor, having admitted he lacks the capacity to secure the state.”
The APC also recalled that previous governors, including Alhaji Lam Adesina, Senator Rashidi Ladoja, Chief Adebayo Alao-Akala, and the late Sen. Abiola Ajimobi, operated under the same constitutional provisions without similar security failures. Sadare particularly praised Ajimobi for establishing a Security Trust Fund to ensure funding and stakeholder involvement in security, in contrast to the current administration.
“Makinde’s presidential ambition is dead on arrival. Our concern is the continued loss, deprivation, and mismanagement the people of Oyo may suffer in the remaining year of his tenure. The state deserves a team player, a sincere and humble governor — qualities Makinde has failed to demonstrate in seven years. He should apologise and step down,” Sadare concluded.
Oyo State Governor, Seyi Makinde, on Saturday emerged as the presidential candidate of the Allied Peoples Movement (APM) for the 2027 general election following the conclusion of the party’s presidential nomination process.
Makinde emerged through consensus and affirmation by party delegates during the exercise, in what party leaders described as a demonstration of unity and confidence in his leadership ahead of the next general elections.
The governor was presented with his Certificate of Return by the National Chairman of the APM, Alhaji Yusuf Dantali, during a ceremony held in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital, amid cheers from party faithful, delegates and supporters drawn from different parts of the country.
Speaking during the presentation, Dantali said Makinde possesses the leadership qualities, administrative experience and vision required to steer the country towards sustainable growth and national development.
He urged party members across the federation to close ranks and intensify grassroots mobilisation to ensure victory for the party in the 2027 presidential election.
The APM national chairman maintained that the party remained committed to presenting Nigerians with what he described as a credible alternative capable of addressing the country’s economic, security and governance challenges.
According to him, the emergence of Makinde as the party’s flag bearer marked the beginning of a new political movement aimed at restoring hope and strengthening democratic governance in the country.
In his acceptance speech, Governor Makinde expressed appreciation to the leadership of the party and delegates for the confidence reposed in him, pledging to work with stakeholders across political, ethnic and religious divides to advance the party’s vision for national transformation.
The governor assured party supporters of his commitment to inclusive leadership, promising to prioritise policies that would improve economic prosperity, strengthen institutions and enhance the welfare of Nigerians if elected.
Five key members of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Oyo State have been appointed to the party’s campaign committee for the 2026 governorship re-election of Governor Abiodun Oyebanji in Ekiti State.
The Oyo APC leaders on the list include the party’s governorship candidate, Sharafadeen Abiodun Alli, former Senate leader Teslim Folarin, Minister of Youth and Sports Development, Sunday Dare, Zacch Adedeji, and Remi Oseni.
The list, signed by the party’s National Secretary, Sen. Ajibola Basiru, reflects the APC’s strategy of deploying experienced political figures with strong grassroots networks to ensure a successful re-election campaign in Ekiti.
“These appointments recognise their political experience and commitment to advancing the party’s agenda,” the source within the party said.
The APC committee is expected to coordinate campaign activities, voter engagement, and messaging, positioning the party for a strong showing in the 2026 governorship election.
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