‘We won the election twice’: Donald Trump returns to rally stage in Ohio

Former US president Donald Trump lambasted Joe Biden’s presidency as a “complete and total catastrophe” as he held his first political rally since losing November’s election and kick-started a series of public engagements this summer.

Speaking at the Lorain County Fairgrounds, south of Cleveland, Ohio, Mr Trump said Mr Biden was “destroying our nation right before our very own eyes”.

Mr Trump also reiterated his false claims of election fraud in last year’s vote, denouncing the “big lie”. “We won that election in a landslide,” he said to cheers.

Tens of thousands of supporters queued for hours in the summer heat to attend the event, the first in a series of rallies planned by the former president who has not ruled out running for the White House again in 2024. ‘We won the election twice,’ he said, “and it’s possible we’ll have to win it a third time.”

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Mr Trump also took aim at fellow Republicans who have refused to support his false allegations of a rigged election last year.

In pointed comments about military leaders he chastised “woke” generals who have featured in the media recently – a pointed reference to Gen Mark Milley, chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, who pushed back on criticism that the military was embracing the academic discipline of critical race theory in a clip that has been shared widely on social media.

“The military brass have become weak and ineffective leaders, and our enemies are watching, and they’re laughing,” Mr Trump said. “We need a Republican Congress to ban critical race theory,” he said, referring to the theory that has become a target of Republicans.

The rally was a campaign event for Max Miller, who served as an aide to the former president and is now running for Congress on a pro-Trump platform. Mr Miller is seeking to dislodge sitting congressman Anthony Gonzales – one of ten Republicans who voted to impeach Mr Trump in January.

The former president attacked Mr Gonzales for supporting the “unconstitutional, illegal witch hunt,” branding him as “a sell-out, a fake Republican and a disgrace to your state”.

Mr Miller, who joined Mr Trump on stage, called the former president his greatest role model, adding with a smirk: “come 2024, we’re going to get him elected for the third time”.

Although Mr Trump has not yet said if he will contest the next presidential race, he has made it clear he is endorsing candidates in next-year’s mid-terms who will challenge Republicans who voted to impeach him or were deemed to be insufficiently loyal to him when he was president.

During his 90-minute speech, Mr Trump called out several Republican foes whom he branded “Rinos” – Republican in Name Only – including Mitt Romney and Liz Cheney – “another beauty” he said.

Much of his speech returned to many of the themes of the campaign trail, focusing heavily on the border and immigration.

“When I left office we gave the new administration the most secure border our country has ever known,” he declared. “We had built almost 500 miles of very beautiful, very successful wall.”

“You have millions of people coming into this country – we have no idea who they are.”

Ahead of his own visit to the Texas-Mexico border next Wednesday, he alleged that vice-president Kamala Harris only visited the border on Friday because she knew he was going next week.

Mr Trump, who began his speech an hour late, was introduced by several local politicians like Ohio congressman Jim Jordan as well as Marjorie Taylor Greene, the controversial congresswoman from Georgia.

Ms Greene, who has been censured by her party for her extreme reports and affiliation with the Q-Anon movement, reiterated baseless claims of election fraud. “[Trump] should be our president right now but the dirty rotten Democrats stole the election” she said.

Stating that she didn’t go to Washington “to make friends,” she declared: “I want to impeach Joe Biden – throw him out – and I want to expel Maxine Waters and I want to fire Dr Anthony Fauci,” leading to shouts of “lock him up, lock him up,” from the crowd.

Many attending the rally queued for hours to enter. The build-up to Mr Trump’s speech was reminiscent of his campaign events, with loud music blaring from speakers pumping out hits like Macho Man and Gloria as the crowd waited for him to come on stage.

Among the attendees was Chris Ischay and his nine-year old son Jake. Wearing a T-shirt with the words “God, Guns & Trump” Mr Ischay said he was here to show his appreciation for Mr Trump. He said he was concerned about the election process and believed there were widespread irregularities in last year’s election.

“You can’t get into a government building without an ID, so why should you be able to vote without an ID? How is that racist? It’s just stupid,” he said. Son Jake, who was wearing a red Trump hat and waving a giant Trump 2024 flag, said he was excited to be at his first rally.

Earlier in the day, Mr Trump hosted a private reception for donors and aides, including several figures who ran his presidential campaigns across the country.

During his rally, Mr Trump made no mention of his mounting legal challenges as the Trump Organisation is braced for possible criminal charges related to fringe benefits the company offered employees.

The Manhattan district attorney is said to have informed lawyers for Mr Trump’s company that they could file charges as early as this week. Their attention is focused on Allen Weisselberg, a long-time Trump executive.

Mr Trump previously tried to stop prosecutors in New York with accessing his financial records but was ultimately unsuccessful.