Former President Donald Trump traveled to Virginia for a celebratory rally Friday afternoon, taking what amounted to a victory lap following the first debate of the 2024 presidential election.
Trump won Thursday night's debate with President Joe Biden , according to flash polls , largely by not losing it. On the debate stage, Trump delivered his answers smoothly and confidently, even if he frequently evaded questions from moderators and was dinged by fact-checkers for his claims. Biden, by contrast, stumbled through his answers, at times losing his train of thought, leading to questions about whether he should even remain on the Democratic ticket.
"Did anybody watch a thing last night called a debate ?" Trump told a crowd of red-and-white-clad supporters in the Hampton Roads area. "We had a big victory against a man who is looking to destroy our country."
While a Republican presidential candidate hasn't won Virginia's Electoral College votes since 2004, GOP leaders claim the state is in play this fall. Trump indicated he thinks his debate performance, and Biden's, will open the door for an upset in November.
Democrats, for their part, seem not to be taking any chances, dispatching first lady Jill Biden to the state just one day prior for a campaign rally.
“Joe Biden’s problem is not his age, it’s not his anything, really. He has no problem other than his competence. He’s grossly incompetent," Trump said. “It’s not his age, it’s his competence.”
Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R-VA) opened up for Trump during the event, which was held in the southeastern Virginia city of Chesapeake, saying Republicans can win Virginia, which had become a relatively blue state prior to his own upset victory in the 2021 governor's race.
“The work is clear. We must extend our majority in the U.S. House of Representatives. We must flip the Senate, and we must elect Donald J. Trump the next president of the United States," Youngkin said.
“All roads do lead through Hampton Roads, and Joe Biden's road to retirement is going right through Hampton Roads.”
After taking the stage more than 90 minutes later, Trump reinforced his criticism of Biden, returning repeatedly to the theme of the debate.
"The question every voter should be asking themselves today is not whether Joe Biden can survive a 90-minute debate performance, but whether America can survive four more years of crooked Joe Biden in the White House," Trump said. "In fact, I don’t know if we can really survive five more months.”
He addressed rumors among Democrats, which seemed to ebb some throughout the course of Friday, that Biden could leave the race, predicting that it will not happen.
"Many people are saying that after last night’s performance that Joe Biden is leaving the race," Trump said. "But the fact is, I don’t really believe that. Because he does better in polls than any of the Democrats they’re talking about.”
Trump then rattled off a few names, referring to Gov. Gavin Newsom (D-CA) as "Newscum" and saying he's "one of the nation's worst governors." Vice President Kamala Harris came in for even worse criticism.
“It might have been Joe Biden's single best decision putting her as vice president," Trump said. "Might have been his best — because nobody wants that."
Trump also returned to his favorite themes, decrying illegal immigration, climate change politics, and electric vehicles while promoting his 2017 tax cuts and the strong economic growth seen during the first few years of his term.
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Clearly feeling confident following the Atlanta debate, Trump even repeated some of his favorite lines from the performance.
"As I said last night, I’m not in this race for me," he said. "I’m in this race for the sake of our country. And I told him last night, I wish you were a great president. I wouldn't even be here."
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