VANDALIA, Ohio (AP) 鈥 Former President Donald Trump claimed that he 鈥 not President Joe Biden 鈥 will protect Social Security and warned of a 鈥渂loodbath鈥 if he loses in November as he campaigned for Senate candidate Bernie Moreno in Ohio.
Trump, speaking on a wind-whipped airfield outside of Dayton Saturday, praised his chosen candidate in the race as an 鈥淎merica first champion" and 鈥減olitical outsider who has spent his entire life building up Ohio communities."
鈥淗e's going to be a warrior in Washington," Trump said, days after securing enough delegates to clinch the 2024 Republican nomination.
Moreno faces Secretary of State Frank LaRose and state Sen. Matt Dolan in Tuesday鈥檚 GOP primary. LaRose and Moreno have aligned themselves with the pro-Trump faction of the party, while Dolan is backed by more establishment Republicans, including and former .
Saturday's rally was hosted by Buckeye Values PAC, a group backing Moreno鈥檚 candidacy. But Trump used the stage to deliver a profanity-filled version of his usual rally speech that again painted an apocalyptic picture of the country if Biden wins a second term.
鈥淚f I don鈥檛 get elected, it鈥檚 going to be a bloodbath for the whole 鈥 that鈥檚 going to be the least of it. It鈥檚 going to be a bloodbath for the country," he warned, while talking about the impact of offshoring on the country鈥檚 auto industry and his plans to increase tariffs on foreign-made cars.
Biden campaign spokesperson James Singer accused Trump of doubling 鈥渄own on his threats of political violence.鈥
鈥淗e wants another January 6, but the American people are going to give him another electoral defeat this November because they continue to reject his extremism, his affection for violence, and his thirst for revenge," Singer charged in a statement.
Trump campaign spokesman Steven Cheung said that Trump had clearly been talking about the impact of a second Biden term on the auto industry and broader economy.
鈥淐rooked Joe Biden and his campaign are engaging in deceptively, out-of-context editing,鈥 he said.
Trump repeatedly noted his difficulty reading from his teleprompters, which could be seen visibly whipping in 35-mile-per-hour wind gusts.
A one-time Trump critic, Moreno, a wealthy Cleveland businessman, supported Marco Rubio for president in the 2016 Republican primary, and once tweeted that listening to Trump was 鈥渓ike watching a car accident that makes you sick, but you can stop looking.鈥 In 2021, NBC News reported on an email exchange around the time of Trump鈥檚 first presidential run in which Moreno referred to Trump as a 鈥渓unatic鈥 and a 鈥渕aniac.鈥
On Saturday, however, Moreno praised Trump as a 鈥済reat American鈥 and railed against those in his party who have been critical of the former president, who this week became his party's presumptive nominee for a third straight election.
鈥淚 am so sick and tired of Republicans that say, 鈥業 support President Trump鈥檚 policies but I don鈥檛 like the man,鈥" he said as he joined Trump on stage.
Trump also dismissed recent allegations against Moreno, comparing them to attacks he has faced through the years, including his criminal indictments. Trump has been charged in four separate cases that span his handling of classified documents to his efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 election.
鈥淗e鈥檚 getting some very tough Democrat fake treatment right now,鈥 Trump said. 鈥淎nd we鈥檙e not going to stand for it because I know this man. We all know this man. He's a hero, he's a winner. And we're not going to let these people 鈥 these people are sick."
The Associated Press that in 2008, someone with access to Moreno鈥檚 work email account created a profile on an adult website seeking 鈥淢en for 1-on-1 sex.鈥 The AP could not definitively confirm that it was created by Moreno himself. Moreno鈥檚 lawyer said a former intern created the account and provided a statement from the intern, Dan Ricci, who said he created the account as 鈥減art of a juvenile prank.鈥
Questions about the profile have circulated in GOP circles for the past month, sparking frustration among senior Republican operatives about Moreno鈥檚 potential vulnerability in a general election, according to seven people who are directly familiar with conversations about how to address the matter. They requested anonymity to avoid running afoul of Trump and his allies.
Trump, in his remarks, also accused Biden of posing a threat to Social Security as he continued trying to clean up comments from an interview earlier this week in which he appeared to voice openness to cuts.
鈥淵ou will not be able to have Social Security with this guy in office because he鈥檚 destroying the economics of our country. And that includes Medicare, by the way, and American seniors are going to be in big trouble," he warned, even though Biden has pledged to protect and strengthen Social Security as it faces a projected budget shortfall.
鈥淚 made a promise that I will always keep Social Security, Medicare. We always will keep it. We never will cut it,鈥 he said.
In a Monday interview with CNBC, Trump had answered a question about Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid by saying that, 鈥渢here is a lot you can do in terms of entitlements, in terms of cutting and in terms of also the theft and the bad management of entitlements, tremendous bad management of entitlements. There鈥檚 tremendous amounts of things and numbers of things you can do."
Trump also over his handling of the border as he cast migrants as less than human. 鈥淚n some cases, they鈥檙e not people, in my opinion,鈥 he said. Trump laced into Dolan, calling him a 鈥渨eak RINO鈥 鈥 a Republican in name only 鈥 and accused him of 鈥渢rying to become the next Mitt Romney." He also criticized the Dolan family, which owns Cleveland鈥檚 baseball team, for changing its name from the Cleveland Indians to the Cleveland Guardians.
Trump was joined at the rally by Ohio Sen. JD Vance and South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem, who have both stumped with Moreno and are considered potential vice-presidential candidates.
Trump鈥檚 decision to back Moreno marked a major blow to LaRose, who had taken a number of steps to win his favor. Just days after entering the Senate race, LaRose endorsed Trump for president 鈥 reversing an earlier stance that the state鈥檚 elections chief should remain politically neutral. The next month, he after old tweets surfaced in which the staffer criticized Trump.
The winner of Tuesday's primary will face third-term Sen. Sherrod Brown, viewed as among the nation鈥檚 most vulnerable Democrats, in November.
Brown, first elected in 2006 and uncontested in his primary this year, has managed to hold onto his seat even as the state has shifted to the right. In his most recent reelection in 2018, he defeated then-Rep. Jim Renacci by almost 7 percentage points. Two years later, Ohio voted for then-President Trump by 8 points.
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Colvin reported from New York. Associated Press writer Brian Slodysko contributed to this report.
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