TEXAS: Donald Trump will hold an election rally in Texas on Saturday at a site that critics say will play to his far-right supporters as he seeks to boost a presidential campaign dogged by the threat of criminal indictments.
In what the former president has billed as his first major rally of the 2024 presidential race, Trump has called on supporters to assemble at an airport in Waco, Texas, and cheer on his bid for the Republican Party nomination.
Waco is marking the 30th anniversary of a raid by federal agents on the Branch Davidians religious sect there that resulted in 86 deaths, including four law-enforcement officers. Some right-wing extremists view the raid as a seminal moment of government overreach.
In an email, a Trump campaign spokesperson said Waco was chosen because it is situated between several major population centres and has the infrastructure to host a large event. Trump faces growing legal peril from a series of ongoing criminal investigations, including one in Manhattan related to an alleged hush-money payoff to Stormy Daniels during his 2016 White House campaign.
Trump has sought to paint the Manhattan case as politically motivated, raised money off it and used it to rally supporters to his side. On Friday, he issued an apocalyptic warning, saying the country faced potential “death and destruction” if he was charged with a crime.
“Trump is walking on a high wire without a net, telegraphing that he has nothing to lose and is willing to risk dangerous outcomes to rally support,” said Ron Bonjean, a Republican strategist in Washington.
Few supporters have heeded his calls to take to the streets to protest his possible indictment in the Manhattan case. Those calls will likely invite closer than normal scrutiny of how many people attend Saturday’s rally, where Trump, who is due to start speaking at 5 pm CDT (2200 GMT), is expected to rail against the potential prosecutions.
— Reuters
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