Jan. 28 (UPI) — Former President Donald Trump on Saturday delivered a speech in his first official 2024 presidential campaign event in New Hampshire.
Trump, speaking at an annual meeting of Republican leaders in Salem, revealed that Stephen Stepanek — the outgoing chairman of the New Hampshire GOP — would serve as a senior adviser for his campaign in the state ahead of the party’s primary, Politico reported.
“If he wasn’t coming with us, I might just have to forget about New Hampshire and just mark it down as a loss,” Trump said. “But with Steve, I don’t think we can lose.”
During his hour-long speech, Trump made a number of false statements including that the leaders of other nations were slow to congratulate Biden when he won the presidency, Time reported.
“We’re starting right here as a candidate for president,” Trump said during the speech.
“I’m more angry now and I’m more committed now than I ever was.”
Trump also discussed plans to eliminate federal funding for schools that teach critical race theory and “left-wing gender ideology.”
“We have a great military but we have some fools right now on top,” Trump said during the speech.
Trump remains the only declared Republican candidate in the 2024 presidential election, though potential challengers include Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and former Vice President Mike Pence.
Later in the day, Trump headed to South Carolina for his second campaign event, which was broadcast by Newsmax.
“We’re here today to announce our campaign’s incredible South Carolina leadership team,” Trump said, thanking the state’s Gov. Henry McMaster for his endorsement. The event was also attended by Sen. Lindsey Graham.
“This campaign will be about the future. This campaign will be about issues. Joe Biden has put our America on the fast track to ruin and destruction and we will ensure that he does not receive four more years.”