Former President Donald Trump officially received the endorsement of Arkansas Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders at a rally in Hialeah, Florida, on Wednesday.
Sanders, who working under the former president as White House press secretary, teased her endorsement earlier this week. Trump took the stage for his rally in Florida as five of his GOP primary competitors took another stage together in Miami for the third primary debate. Trump has skipped the primary debates, citing his lead in the polls.
“Our country has never needed Donald Trump more than we do right now,” Sanders told the cheering crowd. “Tonight, I am so proud to endorse my former boss, my friend, and everybody’s favorite president, Donald J. Trump.”
Trump took the stage after Sanders, thanking his former spokeswoman for her support and launching into a roughly 45-minute speech. The former president repeatedly attacked the sitting president, Joe Biden, over his handling of the economy, the southern border, international relations, and other issues. Trump also repeated his nickname for the president, “crooked Joe,” a reference to the influence peddling scheme the Biden family has allegedly engaged in for years with foreign agents.
“Crooked Joe Biden and the radical Left Democrats are turning the United States into Communist Cuba, and you know because we have a lot of great Cubans here,” Trump said to cheers from the Florida crowd. “We have a lot of great Cubans here, and nobody ever did more for Americans that love Cuba than a gentleman named Donald J. Trump when he was president.”
Trump estimated that 15 million immigrants will have crossed the U.S. southern border and entered the country by the end of Biden’s first term. He pledged to launch the “largest domestic deportation operation in American history” on the first day of his second term.
Trump also touted the results of a recent poll from The New York Times and Sienna College that showed the former president leading Biden in five of six swing states.
“It means we’re going to have strong borders, great education, you’re going to be able to buy a house, we’re going to have interest rates come down, we’re going to have a great military, we’re going to have safety and security. It means everything. It means we’re going to have a country, because you’re not going to have a country left if we don’t win this election,” Trump said.
Toward the end of the rally, the Republican mayor of Hialeah, Esteban Bovo, joined Trump on stage and presented him with a mock road sign touting the former president’s name: “President Donald J. Trump Avenue.” Bovo said he would bring a proposal up to rename a street after Trump to the city council next week.