\n<\/p>\n
In his speech<\/a> at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) on Saturday, former President Donald Trump<\/strong> cast the 2024 presidential election as a quasi-religious day of reckoning for his political opponents.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cFor hard-working Americans, Nov. 5 will be our new Liberation Day,\u201d he said. \u201cBut for the liars, and cheaters, and fraudsters, and censors and imposters who have commandeered our government, it will be their Judgment Day.\u201d<\/p>\n The line underscored the apocalyptic tone that suffused Trump\u2019s speech, which was peppered with warnings of \u201choards of illegal aliens stampeding across our borders,\u201d Hamas coming to \u201cterrorize our streets,\u201d and the utter \u201ccollapse\u201d of public services including education and healthcare. \u201cIf crooked Joe Biden<\/strong> and his thugs win in 2024, the worst is yet to come,\u201d Trump said. \u201cOur country will go and sink to levels that were unimaginable.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWhen we win, the curtain closes on their corrupt reign, and the sun rises on a bright new future for America,\u201d he added. \u201cI believe it\u2019s our last chance.\u201d<\/p>\n Throughout his campaign, Trump has consistently portrayed himself<\/a> as a singular bulwark against onrushing tyranny, a theme he reprised on Saturday. \u201cOur country is being destroyed, and the only thing standing between you and its obliteration is me,\u201d Trump said. \u201cI stand before you today only as your past and hopefully future president, but as a proud political dissident. I am a dissident.\u201d<\/p>\n The line recalled Trump\u2019s comments last week comparing his legal woes to the persecution of Russian dissident Alexey Navalny, who died in an Arctic panel colony under mysterious circumstances. President Joe Biden, Western leaders and Kremlin critics have all blamed Russian President Vladimir Putin<\/strong> for Navalny\u2019s death.<\/p>\n Continuing what has become a campaign theme, Trump accused President Biden, without evidence, of orchestrating the 91 criminal indictments<\/a> against him. \u201cHe indicted me,\u201d Trump said of Biden, adding that his legal cases were \u201cStalinist show trials carried out at the Joe Biden orders.\u201d<\/p>\n Trump\u2019s speech came as he coasted to victory<\/a> in Saturday\u2019s South Carolina Republican primary, besting the state\u2019s former two-term governor Nikki Haley<\/strong> by more than 20 points. Sensing his hold on the nomination growing even more potent, Trump didn\u2019t even utter Haley\u2019s name during his CPAC speech.<\/p>\n Biden campaign rapid response director Ammar Moussa<\/strong> responded to the speech by calling Trump a \u201closer.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cUnder his presidency, America lost more jobs than any president in modern history, women in more than 20 states have lost the freedom to make their own health care decisions because Trump overturned Roe, and the MAGA wing of the Republican Party lost their damn minds putting Trump\u2019s quest for power over our democracy,\u201d he said<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n