Michael Hernandez
April 25, 2023•Update: April 25, 2023
WASHINGTON
Former US President Donald Trump issued a broadside against his successor Tuesday after Joe Biden formally announced he would be seeking a second term in office in 2024.
"Biden is the most corrupt president in American history—and that’s not even close. Nobody can believe what’s going on, with again no retribution whatsoever," Trump said in a statement. "With such a calamitous and failed presidency, it is almost inconceivable that Biden would even think of running for reelection."
Trump lost to Biden in 2020 by over 7 million votes, but the ex-president continued to make unsubstantiated claims of voter fraud which he said led to his electoral defeat. Trump's allegations have been repeatedly rejected in court, and were dismissed by his Attorney General William Barr.
In the over two years since Trump lost, he has failed to produce any evidence to back up his claims, but he has continued to repeat them, including in his reaction to Biden's reelection announcement.
"They cheated, and they rigged the election," he said. "With your support in the election, we will defeat Joe Biden in 2024. We will rescue our economy. We will crush inflation. We will stop the invasion on our southern border. We will restore our Nation’s dignity. And we will prevent World War III from happening."
Trump was the first candidate from either party to announce a 2024 White House bid. Biden formally followed suit early Tuesday morning, issuing a three-minute video in which he urged his supporters to help him "finish this job."
"When I ran for president four years ago, I said we're in a battle for the soul of the nation, and we still are. The question we're facing is whether in the years ahead we have more freedom, or less freedom, more rights or fewer," said Biden. "I know what I want the answer to be, and I think you do too. This is not a time to be complacent. That's why I'm running for reelection."
While Biden's announcement marked the formal start of his campaign, he has spent months going around the country to tout his legislative victories, including a historic infrastructure revitalization bill, new funding to boost high-technology manufacturing and climate initiatives.
But Trump insisted that if you were to gather the "five worst presidents in American history, and put them together" they would not "have done the damage Joe Biden has done to our Nation in just a few short years. Not even close."
"American families are being decimated by the worst inflation in half a century. Banks are failing. Our currency is crashing and the dollar will soon no longer be the world standard," he said. "And Joe Biden has led us to the very brink of World War III."
