GREENSBORO, North Carolina (AP) 鈥 Former President Donald Trump on Saturday further escalated his immigration rhetoric and baselessly accused President Joe Biden of waging a 鈥渃onspiracy to overthrow the United States of America" as he campaigned ahead of Super Tuesday's primaries.
Trump has a long history of trying to turn attack lines back on his rivals in an attempt to diminish their impact. Biden has , pointing to the former president's . Those efforts on Jan. 6, 2021, as his supporters tried to halt the peaceful transition of power.
Trump, who has responded by and alleged without proof that Biden is responsible for the indictments he faces, turned to Biden's border policies on Saturday, charging that 鈥渆very day Joe Biden is giving aid and comfort to foreign enemies of the United States.鈥
鈥淏iden鈥檚 conduct on our border is by any definition a conspiracy to overthrow the United States of America,鈥 he went on to say in Greensboro, North Carolina. 鈥淏iden and his accomplices want to collapse the American system, nullify the will of the actual American voters and establish a new base of power that gives them control for generations.鈥
Similar arguments have long been made by to weaken the power of white voters 鈥 part of a racist conspiracy, once confined to the far right, claiming there is an intentional push by the U.S. liberal establishment to systematically diminish the influence of white people.
Trump leaned into the theory again at his rally later in Virginia, saying of the migrants: 鈥淭hey鈥檙e trying to sign them up to get them to vote in the next election."
鈥淥nce again Trump is projecting in an attempt to distract the American people from the fact he killed the fairest and toughest border security bill in decades because he believed it would help his campaign. Sad,鈥 Biden campaign spokesman Ammar Moussa said in a statement.
Trump鈥檚 campaign stops came three days before , with elections in 16 states, including North Carolina and Virginia, where thousands of enthusiastic supporters gathered for an evening rally in downtown Richmond. The primaries will be the largest day of voting of the year ahead of November鈥檚 general election, which is shaping up as a likely rematch of 2020 between Trump and Biden.
Nikki Haley, Trump's last major rival, also campaigned in North Carolina. Speaking to reporters after her event in Raleigh, about 80 miles away, the former U.N. ambassador demurred on her plans after Super Tuesday.
鈥淲e鈥檙e going to keep going and we鈥檙e going to keep pushing,鈥 she said, arguing a majority of Americans don鈥檛 want either Biden or Trump as the nation鈥檚 leader.
Much of Trump's speech in North Carolina focused on the slew of criminal charges he faces. While the former president has successfully harnessed his legal woes into a powerful rallying cry in the primaries, it is unclear how his message of grievance will resonate with the more moderate voters who will likely decide the general election.
鈥淚 stand before you today not only as your past and hopefully future president, but as a proud political dissident and a public enemy of a rogue regime,鈥 Trump said, railing against what he called an 鈥渁nti-Democratic machine."
At both rallies, Trump played a recording of 鈥淛ustice for All,鈥 the version of the Star-Spangled Banner that he collaborated on with a group of defendants jailed over their alleged roles in the January 2021 insurrection, whom he refers to as 鈥渉ostages.鈥
As he focuses on the general election, Trump has painted an apocalyptic vision of the country under Biden, particularly on the topic of immigration, which was the animating issue of his 2016 campaign and which he has once again seized on as the U.S. has experienced a record influx of migrants at the border.
Trump and Biden both to highlight their contrasting approaches to the issue.
On Saturday, Trump conjured images of Biden turning 鈥減ublic schools into migrant camps鈥 and "the USA into a crime-ridden, disease-ridden dumping ground, which is what they鈥檙e doing.鈥 He also spoke at length about the , a 22-year-old nursing student whose alleged killer is a who entered the U.S. illegally and was allowed to stay to pursue his immigration case.
are more likely to have been arrested for violent crimes than people in the country illegally, but Trump has seized on several high-profile incidents, including a recent video of .
鈥淣ot one more innocent American life should be lost to migrant crime," Trump said.
Trump, who repeatedly attacks Biden鈥檚 intelligence and mental acuity, has been sensitive to questions of his own sharpness after he鈥檚 mixed up Haley with Nancy Pelosi and Biden with former President Barack Obama at past rallies.
Trump has lately sought to inoculate any questions by insisting he interchanges the names intentionally.
鈥淚 do that because you know that makes a point. Do we understand that, right? Because a lot of people say he鈥檚 running the country. I don鈥檛 personally think so,鈥 Trump said early into his appearance in Virginia.
But more than an hour in to his free-flowing remarks, he seemed to mix up Obama and Biden again, when he said 鈥淧utin, you know, has so little respect for Obama that he鈥檚 starting to throw around the 鈥榥uclear鈥 word.鈥
Beyond their importance on Super Tuesday, North Carolina and Virginia are both states the Trump campaign is focused on for November.
Trump won North Carolina twice but watched his margin of victory shrink. Biden鈥檚 reelection campaign already has staff on the ground hoping to flip the state for the first time since 2008.
Virginia, meanwhile, had once been a swing state but for years has trended blue and Trump lost there twice. But a Trump campaign senior adviser told reporters Saturday that he believes 鈥渨e could make Virginia competitive.鈥
In North Carolina, a festive atmosphere surrounded the Greensboro Coliseum Complex ahead of Trump's rally. Supporters stood in a line that snaked through a web of metal barricades and extended hundreds of yards from the arena. License plates from North Carolina, Virginia and Tennessee filled the parking lot, where Trump flags flew alongside U.S. and Confederate flags on many vehicles.
鈥淲e just love Trump,鈥 said, Mary Welborn, who lives in nearby Thomasville and expressed that she was frustrated by the criminal prosecutions and civil judgments against the former president. 鈥淭he way he鈥檚 being treated is insane. No other president has been treated this way," she said.
In Richmond, supporters started lining up Saturday morning for an evening rally at a downtown convention center. The entry lines stretched several blocks by mid-afternoon.
Ken Ballos, a retired police officer from nearby Hanover County who said he voted for Trump in 2016 and 2020, said he was eager at the prospect of a Trump-Biden rematch.
鈥淭rump would eat him up," Ballos said.
___
Associated Press writers Gary Robertson in Raleigh, North Carolina, Sarah Rankin in Richmond, Virginia, and Michelle L. Price in New York contributed to this report.
