CLAREMONT, N.H.—At a packed New Hampshire rally earlier today, former U.S. president and 2024 presidential candidate Donald Trump earned new key endorsements as his supporters talked about feeling abandoned by the national Republican party leadership.
Among them was Rayla Campbell, the first black woman to win a Republican primary in Massachusetts for Secretary of State. She ultimately lost her bid to a Democratic incumbent and said she got “zero” support from national Republican leaders for her campaign.
“One hundred percent I feel ignored,” Mrs. Campbell told The Epoch Times, who was at the rally to represent Black Voices For Trump. “They aren’t interested in grassroots candidates or rising candidates.”
The topic was a spinoff of the controversial comments made by candidate Vivek Ramaswamy during the GOP debate earlier this week, accusing RNC Chairwoman Ronna McDaniels of failing the party and calling for her resignation.
Bobby McCarthy, a U.S. Marine Corps veteran who was among the droves of active and former military service members in attendance at the Veteran’s Day event, told The Epoch Times that while he didn’t think it was fair to blame one person, “like any captain, she has to go down with the ship.”
“I do think it’s time for her to step aside for a new leader,” he said.
‘America First’
Earlier in the morning at The Barn—a popular eatery in Claremont, a blue collarish-town that sits on the New Hampshire and Vermont border—U.S. veterans and Trump supporters like Ron Barbour, who served 12 years in the U.S. Army, were also eager to talk about the subject.
“The question is, is it a blessing or a disguise?” he asked, pointing to President Trump’s own recent comment, “Anytime I get indicted, I go up in the polls.”
John Trapp, another U.S. Army veteran dining at The Barn, told The Epoch Times that he believes President Trump’s popularity is having “an outing” effect on the national party’s lack of support for traditional conservatives.
In zeroing in on Mrs. McDaniel’s post-debate outburst against Mr. Ramaswamy for his comments, Mr. Trapp said, “The truth hurts.”
Josh Savage, owner of The Barn, added that the “RNC needs to focus on putting their efforts on America first candidates.”
Mrs. McDaniel has since appeared on national TV defending herself against Mr. Ramaswamy’s call for her resignation. She told Fox News that Republican voters are tired of the “circular firing squad” within the party and that candidates should focus on key issues like the border and crime in America instead of making inter-party attacks.
Highlighting President Trump’s Veterans Day appearance in New Hampshire was the kick off of his new campaign “Peace in Strength,” an initiative he outlined as his promise to prevent “a World War III.”
As part of the kickoff, President Trump introduced several Gold Star families in the crowd, including parents of some of the 13 service members who died in the 2021 attack on the Kabul International Airport in Afghanistan.
President Trump laid direct blame for their deaths on the chaotic withdrawal by the Biden administration, drawing high emotions from the crowd when he mentioned the U.S. military weaponry that was left behind.
“We gave up $85 billion worth of equipment and these 13 great lives,” President Trump said.
In focusing on key issues for veterans, President Trump promised to implement a policy that would enable veterans to go to private hospitals without having to pay out of pocket. They currently have to go to VA hospitals.
He also called for a national plan that would give homeless veterans priority for public housing—slamming the Biden administration for now giving priority to foreign immigrants over U.S. veterans.
He vowed to shut off what he called ” the spigot of money” that President Biden is pouring into housing for immigrant families while thousands of U.S. veterans remain homeless.
“We have $1 billion to put up illegal aliens in hotels. Meanwhile, we have 33,000 homeless veterans,” President Trump said.
President Trump also picked up an endorsement at the start of the New Hampshire rally from 603 Alliance, a nonprofit organization with a mission to “restore Constitutional principles of all levels of our government.”
President Trump also discussed his pending indictments but said surprisingly little about the pool of GOP contenders fighting to catch up to him.
At one point, he even praised them, saying, “Say what you want about the other candidates, it takes courage to run.”
He did, however, aggressively attack New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu, saying he “couldn’t be elected dog catcher” and was not “presidential material,” while ridiculing him for dropping out of the race for U.S. Senate against Democrat Maggie Hassan.
Gov. Sununu, who is not seeking re-election as governor, has been campaigning with GOP contender former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley. Mrs. Haley was appointed by President Trump as the U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations during his administration.
She is gaining in popularity and although still a second distance to President Trump, many of his supporters at the New Hampshire rally fingered her as their second choice to take over the White House.
From The Epoch Times
