Donald Trump is not allowed to post on Facebook or Twitter, but he can still pack convention halls for his spirited rallies. In North Carolina Saturday, the former president took the stage to endorse Rep. Ted Budd (R-NC) for the U.S. senate in 2022.
Vacating his seat and leaving it open for the midterm elections, Sen. Richard Burr (R-NC) will not be running again after a COVID-19 pandemic-related insider-trading scandal last year.
Just one week after writing an optimistic op-ed about the coronavirus outbreak in China early last February, Burr sold $1.6 million in stocks he personally owned, and tipped off wealthy donors. It was something reminiscent of the public and private position on public policy that got Hillary Clinton in trouble with voters, when those privately-made remarks went public.
Echoing a campaign theme popular with his support base during the speech, Donald Trump railed against President Biden for a recent surge of immigrants at the border. He also reprised the tough-on-China talk that roused MAGA ralliers, and wiped trillions from equity markets over the course of his administration’s blistering trade war with China via import tariff:
“The time has come for America and the world to demand reparations and accountability from the Communist Party of China. We should all declare within one unified voice that China must pay.”
Bottom Line: After the speech, the Associated Press averred, “Trump’s grievances cloud Republican agenda heading into 2022.” His speech was actually heavy on policy discussion, and ran the gamut of issues. The question for the outcome of the next midterm elections will be whether the Republican base and the rest of the electorate share Trump’s grievances. And if Republicans can have clear policy solutions and principles that resonate with voters. According to GovTrack’s ideology scoring methods, Ted Budd would legislate far to the right of Richard Burr.
