前总统唐纳德·特朗普周六晚上回到舞台，在北卡罗莱纳州共和党全国代表大会上发表演讲，声称美国在乔·拜登总统的领导下正在倒退。
特朗普在开幕词中说:“很高兴回到格林维尔，与这么多自豪的北卡罗来纳州爱国者在一起，他们热爱我们的国家，支持我们的军队，尊重我们的警察，尊重我们的国旗，永远把美国放在第一位，我们不会把美国放在第二位。”"当我们今晚聚集在一起时，我们的国家正在我们眼前被毁灭。"
这场90分钟的演讲听起来很像特朗普的2020年竞选，宣扬政府的成就，包括开发新冠肺炎疫苗、华尔街崛起、修建边境墙和减少移民，以及他对伊朗和中国的强硬立场。
特朗普在北卡罗来纳州格林维尔的演讲是他自1月份离任以来首次在新的家乡佛罗里达州以外的政治舞台上露面。二月底，他发表了政治性集会中的政策演讲在奥兰多举行的一年一度的保守党政治行动会议上，他调侃了2024年的东山再起，同时宣传了11月选举对他不利。
从那以后，这位前总统只是加倍努力散布关于选举的阴谋，支持所谓的“审计”在亚利桑那州和佐治亚州，他呼吁战场上的其他州，他失败了。官方的、无党派的审计已经在任何竞争激烈的州进行，没有发现会改变结果的违规行为。
特朗普提到了2020年选举中发生的“坏事”，同时表示共和党将在中期选举中迎来“巨大的2022年”。特朗普也略微调侃了2024年的竞选。
他说:“我们将赢得北卡罗来纳州所有重要的美国参议院竞选，我们将为确保共和党人在一年内再次赢得伟大的北卡罗来纳州奠定基础，我非常期待这一天:2024年。”
克里斯·苏厄德/美联社
前总统唐纳德·特朗普在北卡罗来纳代表大会上发言时向人群致谢.
特朗普短暂地将他的儿媳劳拉·特朗普(Lara Trump)介绍到舞台上，劳拉·特朗普是他儿子埃里克的妻子，当时她宣布她不会竞选北卡罗来纳州的参议员。然而，这位卡罗莱纳州本地人表示，她不排除未来参选的可能性。
代表第13国会选区的众议员特德·巴德周六晚上宣布，他将竞选该席位。特朗普支持巴德竞选该席位，共和党人理查德·伯尔宣布他不会竞选连任。
随着美国一半以上的人口似乎正处于新冠肺炎大流行的转折点现已免疫根据疾病控制和预防中心的说法，这位前总统至少注射了一剂疫苗，这证明了他在大流行早期提升了致命病毒可能从中国武汉病毒学研究所泄漏的理论是正确的。
那个理论，曾被称为“极不可能”由世界卫生组织提出，在最近几周再次出现，作为大流行如何开始的一个潜在的合理解释。
“我们有这个可怕的东西来自中国。顺便说一下，我们也做对了。你看到最近实验室发生了什么吗?武汉。这很简单，”特朗普说。
上月下旬，美国总统乔·拜登下令美国情报机构“加倍努力”并在90天内提交另一份关于这种冠状病毒来源的报告，包括“中国的具体问题”
尽管人们对调查该实验室的一次泄漏很感兴趣，但白宫冠状病毒顾问安东尼·福奇博士周四告诉美国有线电视新闻网，中国故意制造这种病毒是“相当牵强的”。
梅利莎·苏·葛瑞斯/盖蒂影像公司
2021年6月5日，特朗普的支持者站在格林维尔会议中心外
特朗普表示，美国和世界应该向中国“要求赔偿和问责”，并补充说，“他们必须付出代价。”他说，中国应该为新冠肺炎造成的损失向世界各国支付“至少10万亿美元”。
特朗普发表讲话的前一天，脸书宣布前总统将继续被禁止使用包括Instagram在内的公司平台至少到2023年1月——这意味着他将无法在2022年中期周期内施展他的一次性社交媒体能力。
“两年后他们可能会允许我回来——我对此不太感兴趣，”特朗普说，他称脸书首席执行官马克·扎克伯格为“美人”
在美国国会大厦发生致命袭击后，脸书最初无限期暂停了特朗普的账户，原因是担心特朗普的帖子煽动暴力。推特永久禁止特朗普在1月8日禁止使用其平台，“因为有进一步煽动暴力的风险”。
他最近的出路，他的网站的博客部分，他的后总统声明张贴，是停工在活了不到一个月之后。
“我不是试图破坏美国民主的人，我是试图拯救它的人。请记住，”特朗普面对响亮的掌声说道。
特朗普的支持者一大早就聚集在格林维尔会议中心外，一些人举着“特朗普2020”的旗帜，而其他人已经在展示“特朗普2024:我会回来”的横幅。许多人戴着“特朗普赢了”的帽子，在竞技场外出售。特朗普的演讲预计将有大约1200名与会者。NCGOP表示，这是该组织历史上最大的一次资金筹集活动。
乔纳森·德雷克/路透社
前总统唐纳德·特朗普的支持者聚集在街角一个写着“小姐
南达科他州州长克里斯蒂·诺姆(Kristi Noem)当天早些时候在大会上发表了讲话，她本人可能是2024年共和党总统候选人。
特朗普周六重返讲台的两天前，他的副总统迈克·彭斯在新罕布什尔州曼彻斯特举行的希尔斯堡县共和党委员会年度林肯-里根晚宴上发表了讲话。该州在2024年举行了该国的第一次初选，尽管彭斯此前在南卡罗来纳州访问了同为初选州的人，但他尚未宣布参选。
彭斯在很大程度上吹捧了他所认为的特朗普政府的成功，尽管他确实说过他背离了总统特朗普一直淡化他对1月6日暴乱的感受。
“特朗普总统和我自离任以来已经说过很多次了，”彭斯在曼彻斯特对人群说。“我不知道那天我们是否会意见一致。但我将永远为过去四年我们为美国人民所取得的成就感到骄傲。”
Donald Trump returns to stage with speech at North Carolina GOP convention
Former PresidentDonald Trumpreturned to the stage on Saturday night, delivering a speech at the North Carolina Republican Party State Convention, and claiming America is backsliding under President Joe Biden.
"It's great to be back in Greenville with so many proud, North Carolina patriots who love our country, support our military, respect our police, honor our flag and always put America first, we don't put America second," Trump said as he opened his speech. "As we gather tonight, our country is being destroyed before our very own eyes."
The 90-minute speech sounded much like one from Trump's 2020 campaign, touting the accomplishments of the administration, including development of the COVID-19 vaccine, Wall Street's rise, building the border wall and curtailing immigration and his tough stance on Iran and China.
Trump's speech in Greenville, North Carolina, was his first political appearance outside his new home state of Florida since he left office in January. In late February, he delivered thekeynote addressat the annual Conservative Political Action Conference in Orlando where he teased a 2024 comeback bid while promoting the false claim that the Novemberelectionwas "rigged" against him.
Since then, the former president has only doubled down on spreading conspiracies about the election, backingso-called "audits"in Arizona and Georgia and calling for others in the battleground states he lost. Official, nonpartisan audits have already taken place in any closely contested state and found no irregularities that would change the results.
Trump referred to "bad things" happening in the 2020 election, while saying the GOP would have a "tremendous 2022" in the midterm elections. Trump teased -- slightly -- a 2024 run as well.
"We're going to win North Carolina's all important U.S. Senate race, and we're going to lay the groundwork for making sure that Republicans once again carry the great state of North Carolina, in a number, a year, that I very much look forward to: 2024," he said.
Trump introduced his daughter-in-law Lara Trump, the wife of his son Eric, to the stage briefly, at which point she announced she would not be running for senator in North Carolina. The Carolina native said she wasn't ruling out a run in the future, though.
Rep. Ted Budd, who represents the 13th Congressional District, announced Saturday night he will be running for the seat. Trump endorsed Budd for the seat, as Republican Richard Burr announced he will not be running for reeelction.
As the United States seems to be turning the corner of the COVID-19 pandemic, with more than half of the country's populationnow immunizedwith at least one dose of a vaccine, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the former president claimed vindication for elevating the theory early in the pandemic that the deadly virus may have leaked from the Wuhan Institute of Virology in China.
That theory,once called "extremely unlikely"by the World Health Organization, has reemerged in recent weeks as a potentially legitimate explanation for how the pandemic began.
"We had this horrible thing come in from China. And we got that one right too, by the way. Did you see what's going on over the last -- with the lab? Wuhan. That was an easy one," Trump said.
Late last month, President Joe Biden ordered U.S. intelligence agencies to"redouble their efforts"and submit another report within 90 days about the origins of this coronavirus, including "specific questions for China."
While there has been interest in investigating a leak from the lab, White House coronavirus adviser Dr. Anthony Fauci told CNN on Thursday that it was "quite far-fetched" that China deliberately engineered the virus.
Trump said the U.S. and the world should "demand reparations and accountability" from China, adding, "They must pay." He said China should pay countries of the world "a minimum of $10 trillion" for the damage from COVID-19.
Trump's speech came a day after Facebook announced the former president would continue tobe banned fromusing the company's platforms, which includes Instagram, through at least January 2023 -- meaning he will be unable to wield his one-time social media prowess through the 2022 midterm cycle.
"They may allow me back in two years -- I'm not too interested in that," Trump said, referring to Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg as "a beauty."
Following the deadly attack on the U.S. Capitol, Facebook initially suspended Trump's accounts indefinitely over concerns his posts were inciting violence. Twitterpermanently bannedTrump from using its platform on Jan. 8 "due to the risk of further incitement of violence."
His most recent outlet, the blog section of his website where his post-presidency statements were posted, wasshut downthis past week after being live for barely a month.
"I am not the one trying to undermine American democracy, I am the one trying to save it. Please remember that," Trump said to loud applause.
Trump's supporters gathered early in the day outside the Greenville Convention Center, some carrying "Trump 2020" flags while others were already displaying "Trump 2024: I'll Be Back" banners. Many wore "Trump won" hats, being sold outside the arena. About 1,200 attendees were expected in the room for Trump's speech. The NCGOP said it was the single-largest fundraiser in the group's history.
South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem, herself a possible 2024 GOP presidential candidate, spoke earlier in the day at the convention.
Trump's return to the podium on Saturday also came two days after his vice president, Mike Pence, spoke at the Hillsborough County Republican Committee's annual Lincoln-Reagan Dinner in Manchester, New Hampshire. The state holds the nation's first primary in 2024, though Pence has yet to announce a run despite speculation after previously visiting fellow early primary state South Carolina.
Pence largely touted what he saw as the Trump administration's successes, though he did sayhe diverged from the presidenton his feelings about the Jan. 6 riot -- consistently downplayed by Trump.
"President Trump and I've spoken many times since we left office," Pence told the crowd in Manchester. "And I don't know if we'll ever see eye to eye on that day. But I will always be proud of what we accomplished for the American people over the last four years."
