But pandering to other Republicans took a noticeable backseat as the former president defiantly defended himself at his first campaign rally since the FBI executed a search warrant at his Mar-a-Lago home, and his staunchest supporters were ready to show their solidarity. the man they consider the rightful winner of the 2020 election. “The Biden administration has invaded the home of their primary political opponent, who is absolutely destroying him and everyone else at the polls,” Trump told a rapturous crowd at Mohegan Sun Arena, which was met with audible boos. “They’re trying to silence me and, more importantly, they’re trying to silence you.” Many of Mr Trump’s sharpest attacks on the FBI or the “deep state” have often brought supporters to their feet, with many wearing “Make America Great Again” hats or chanting “Trump won” in relation to with the big lie that the Democrats stole the 2020 presidential election. election. Wilkes-Barre is in Luzerne County, one of the white, working-class districts that have historically voted Democratic, but which Mr. Trump flipped in 2016 and 2020, although President Joe Biden cut some of his margin of victory in the last elections. Trump’s speech was ostensibly intended to rally supporters for candidates he has endorsed, such as Senate candidate Dr. Mehmet Oz and gubernatorial candidate Doug Mastriano. Both races serve as important beacons, given that Mr. Trump endorsed both candidates in their primaries, but both have consistently trailed their Democratic rivals throughout the general election, which has led the GOP in a state of panic. But even though they spoke later at the rally, it was clear the supporters were there for Trump’s show. Even as people arrived at the arena, supporters chanted “Let’s Go Brandon,” a term used among Trump supporters that is code for “F**k Joe Biden,” while others wore shirts that read “You Raid to the wrong president”. “I feel like the FBI, the CIA, the Secret Service, I don’t care who you say — they’re all in bed with the Democrats,” Patty SantaBarbara said after the rally. She and her friend Paola Ciaschetti traveled to Pennsylvania from upstate New York. While he said he didn’t believe individual agents were in bed with Democrats, the leaders were. “There was no reason for me to go into this man’s house, into his wife’s bedroom,” said Mrs. Santa Barbara. Trump’s words came days after the Justice Department released a court filing Having said that had evidence that state records they probably moved to hinder his investigation. The filing said the FBI found twice as many documents as Mr Trump’s lawyers had turned over and that some documents were so sensitive that Justice Department staff tasked with reviewing them had to wait for special security clearances. FBI agents also found 90 folders that once contained highly sensitive documents among 27 boxes removed from Mr. Trump’s Palm Beach estate. “They talked about documents that were not stored properly,” Trump said. “Yet they come in and take documents, throw them on the floor, do a photo shoot and pretend I did it, like I had it all over the floor.” That, of course, ignored the real heart of the Justice Department’s accusations that he or his team allegedly moved the documents. Likewise, Mr. Trump showed no signs of changing his position. Christina Bobb and Alina Habba, both lawyers helping him in his efforts against the government, were on hand, despite their often legally poor appearances on Fox News or other right-wing media outlets. But Mr Trump defended his actions to the crowd. “Our movement is fighting against a corrupt group of unelected tyrants who believe they can exercise absolute power over you with the help of a willing and very corrupt media,” he said. “They believe that the deep state, not the citizens, should be the real masters of this country.” Michelle McNulty came to the rally from Dickson City, Pennsylvania and echoed the sentiment. “I feel weird because they don’t want Trump to win,” Michelle told the Independent before the rally. “That’s why they went there when they were on vacation.” Mr. Trump allowed Dr. Oz and Mr. Mastriano to speak. He criticized Dr. Oz’s Democratic rival, John Fetterman, who he said dresses “like a teenager high in his parents’ basement.” “Fetterman supports taxpayer-funded drugs and full decriminalization of illegal drugs, including heroin, cocaine, crystal meth and the highly lethal fentanyl,” he said. “And by the way, he gets them himself.” Meanwhile, Mr. Mastriano, a longtime supporter of the president, who was present in Washington on Jan. 6 — though he said he had left Capitol Hill before the violence begins – elicited much louder applause. Instead, someone in the audience shouted that Dr. Oz was a “RINO” – Republican in Name Only – which Marleen Laska echoed after the rally. “I don’t believe he’s going to do the right thing for America, for America first,” he told the Independent. However, she said she planned to vote for him. “I have to vote for him because, you know, we’ve got to get at least one RINO as opposed to Fetterman.” The crowd often chanted “lock her up” or interrupted Mr Trump mid-speech to blast Trump’s enemies. The crowd often reached a fever pitch and he garnered many standing ovations throughout the match. The former president also spoke out against President Biden’s speech this week, which denounced far-right extremism. “There is only one party waging war on American democracy by censoring free speech, criminalizing dissent,” he said. “Disarming law-abiding citizens, issuing illegal and unconstitutional orders, imprisoning political protesters. This is what they are doing: they are rigging elections, arming the justice department and the FBI like never before, and breaking and entering the homes of their political opponents. I wonder who that could be.’ At the same time, he also noted how he was beating Mr. Biden in the polls. “So I might have to do it again,” he told the audience. There is probably little one could say to persuade Trump’s most devoted supporters. Richard Moreholt, who attended the rally, repeated Trump’s frequent lies about declassifying documents. “He has the power to classify and declassify anything he wishes in his government,” Mr Moreholt told The Independent after the meeting. He also noted how Mr. Biden was a “D student” — it is true that Biden received an F in a class after admitting to plagiarism but retook the class — while Trump was an A student, which, again, there is no evidence since he was never a top student at the University of Pennsylvania. But this truth, like the truth about the law, will probably turn out to be insignificant. Andrew Feinberg contributed to this report
