Donald Trump continued to claim the US presidential election was stolen last night as he returned to the rally stage for the first time since leaving the White House.
The 75-year-old branded Joe Biden’s victory the ‘scam of the century’ in front of a crowd of thousands at the Lorain County Fairgrounds in Ohio, near Cleveland.
The event was marketed as the first of many ‘revenge rallies’, in which Trump will be seeking to help oust those who voted in favour of his impeachment following the storming of the Capitol on January 6 this year.
Trump’s target last night was Republican representative Anthony Gonzalez, with the thousands of attendees urged to vote instead for Max Miller, a former White House aide who is challenging the incumbent for his congressional seat.
Mr Gonzalez was one of 10 GOP House members to vote against Trump at the historic second impeachment vote.
The former president has since vowed to back any candidate running against each of the group at the 2022 mid-terms.
On Saturday night, Trump described his candidate Mr Miller as an ‘incredible patriot’ and a ‘great guy who loves the people of Ohio.’
But it wasn’t long until he turned the attention back on himself, repeating the false ‘stolen election’ narrative which has repeatedly been proven baseless.
From local and state election officials to his own attorney general and appointed judges, no one has found any evidence of the mass voter fraud he continues to claim took place.
‘The 2020 presidential election was rigged,’ he told the crowd, ‘we won that election in a landslide…This was the scam of the century and this was the crime of the century.’
His avid followers began chanting ‘Trump won!’, egged on by guest appearances from Mike Lindell, the My Pillow founder-turned conspiracy theorist and far-right representative from Georgia Marjorie Taylor Green.
Mr Lindell, who has spent millions of dollars in vain trying to ‘prove’ the election was stolen, posed for photos with the crowd as they chanted his name.
Ms Green, notorious for her incendiary rhetoric, asked the crowd who their president was, to which they screamed ‘Trump!’
She replied: ‘President Trump is my president too.’
Before Trump took to the stage, a man gave a PowerPoint-style presentation on an ‘algorithm’ which he claimed was used to ‘manipulate election results.’
The falsehoods continue to be pumped out by Trump and his team despite President Biden’s victory having been thoroughly validated at every level. There has been no evidence of systemic fraud.
The rally had all the hallmarks of a classic Trump event, with the crowd jeering ‘Lock her up!’ at the mention of Hillary Clinton while waving signs which read ‘Save America!’
Pro-Trump signs could also be seen on lawns around the site while vendors sold Trump 2024 flags.
While Trump has teased another run at the presidency in three years’ time, he may have to fight off some legal battles first.
It comes as prosecutors in Manhattan told his company on Thursday that it could be facing criminal charges following an investigation into his business dealings.
Trump will hold another rally in Florida over July Fourth weekend and will protest Biden’s immigration policies at the US southern border.
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