Ex-president strikes familiar notes at Pennsylvania rally as he swipes at potential rival ‘Ron DeSanctimonious’ and effectively kicks off another run for White House
A Boeing 757 plane halted on the runway with “Trump” emblazoned on the side in giant gold letters. Loudspeakers boomed Elvis Presley’s Dixie, Village People’s YMCA and Lee Greenwood’s God Bless the USA. Donald Trump descended stairs to rapturous cheers and whistles from thousands of supporters.
Officially, the former US president was rallying at a regional airport to support Republicans candidates in Tuesday’s midterm elections. Unofficially, he was already accelerating down the runway of a 2024 campaign for the White House.
But it was not quite takeoff. “I’m not going to say it right now,” said Trump, bringing a tantalised crowd in Latrobe, Pennsylvania, to their feet. “So, everybody, I promise you, in the very next – very, very, very short period of time, you’re going to be so happy.”
He would like to do it, he added, but wanted to keep the focus on the party’s candidates. Yet minutes earlier, he had given the game away. Two giant screens displayed a series of polls including one for the Republican primary nomination in 2024 that showed Trump at 71% and Florida governor Ron DeSantis at 10%. Trump said casually but pointedly: “Ron DeSanctimonious at 10%.”
The nickname branding exercise was classic Trump and effectively fired the starting gun for a race in which DeSantis is widely considered his most formidable primary challenger. On Sunday Trump will headline a rally in Miami, Florida, to bolster Senator Marco Rubio – but DeSantis, running for re-election as governor, is not invited.
First, on Saturday, Trump was fighting old battles in Pennsylvania, where both his predecessor and successor – Barack Obama and Joe Biden – were also campaigning to tip the balance in a closely contested midterm race that could determine control of the Senate.
Trump’s rally was held at Arnold Palmer Regional Airport, named after a golfing great who learned to fly there. Supporters flew giant “Trump 2024” flags and wore caps and T-shirts with slogans such as “Trump won”, “Lions not sheep” and “I’m a Trump Girl: Get Over It”. There were chants of “USA! USA”, “Let’s go Brandon!” – rightwing code for insulting Biden – and, at mention of Hillary Clinton, “Lock her up!”
