Trump promises to 'keep America great': as he launches 2020 campaign

Published Jun 19, 2019

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Washington - US President Donald Trump launched his 2020

re-election campaign on Tuesday at a mass rally in Florida, blasting

his opponents as radicals, presenting himself as a political outsider

and slamming the media.

The president, however, did not announce any concrete new policies,

focusing instead on stoking fears that his rivals would destroy the

US way of life, alleging they support mass migration to the country.

Trump repeatedly slammed illegal immigration, which he claimed was

responsible for a decline in the middle class, along with past

international trade agreements.

"We are going to keep making America great again and then we will

indeed keep America great," Trump said, as he began to switch his

campaign slogan, with the older one still visible on many thousands

of red hats and shirts in the audience.

At one point Trump, a former reality TV star, had the crowd of some

20,000 people vote, through howls and cheers, on whether to keep the

2016 campaign slogan "Make America Great Again" or change to the

newer "Keep America Great," with supporters approving the latter.

The president's repeated "fake news media" blasts drew strong

applause from the audience, who chanted against broadcaster CNN as

Trump pointed to television cameras.

Polls are showing the president may face an uphill battle to retain

control over the White House next year.

Trump entered a crowded 2016 presidential race as an outsider vowing

to "drain the swamp," and was seen as a long-shot, with polls

regularly predicting his defeat.

He now has the backing of his Republican Party establishment and

enjoys widespread support among party members, but even after serving

two years in the White House, Trump in Florida continued to slam

"Washington insiders" and the "rigged" political system.

His broadsides against socialism and doubling down on conservative

stances on nationalism, abortion, family, the judiciary and guns were

positively received by the loyalist crowd.

"Our radical Democrat opponents are driven by hatred, prejudice and

rage. They want to destroy you and they want to destroy our country

as we know it. Not acceptable, not going to happen," Trump said in

one of his toughest attacks.

The president has pledged to begin to deport millions of migrants in

the country illegally starting next week, but has yet to reveal more

concrete plans, despite teasing ahead of the rally that he would use

the pulpit in Florida for a big announcement.

A large campaign operation is already in place. While Trump has kept

on some of the people who helped him get elected two years ago, there

has also been a high turnover rate within his team, with several

figures facing a range of legal issues.

The election is still 17 months off. The president faces little

internal competition but the rival Democrats have more than 20

presidential contenders vying for the nomination, with early signs of

bickering and feuds within the party's ranks.

Florida is a crucial swing state that Trump narrowly won in 2016. No

president has been elected without Florida, the third most populous

state, in nearly 100 years.

Trump also has deep ties to the state, where his Mar-a-Lago resort

functions as a second home. He has held numerous rallies in Florida

since becoming president and stepped up aid for the state. His native

New York voted against him two years ago.

The Orlando rally comes as polls show the president behind the main

Democratic presidential contenders nationally and in Florida.

A Quinnipiac poll, released Tuesday, showed Trump trailing the early

Democratic front-runner, former vice president Joe Biden, by nine

percentage points in Florida.

Senator Bernie Sanders and Senator Elizabeth Warren, the more

progressive candidates, are also ahead of Trump in Florida.

Nationally, Trump is behind Biden by 10 points, according to a Fox

News poll released Sunday, despite relatively good economic numbers,

such as a low unemployment rate, though wages have remained

stubbornly low.

dpa

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