President Donald Trump believes the country is under attack by some Americans and the U.S. is engaged in a culture war.
During a Tuesday interview in the Oval Office with RealClearPolitics, Trump reiterated statements he made during a speech at Mount Rushmore.
During his Fourth of July celebration speech on July 3, he said an “angry mob” is trying to “tear down statues of our Founders, deface our most sacred memorials, and unleash a wave of violent crime in our cities.” He said the left wing is engaged in a “a merciless campaign to wipe out our history, defame our heroes, erase our values, and indoctrinate our children.”
His message to RealClearPolitics was similar.
“We are in a culture war,” he said.
He said the GOP needs to “toughen up and get smart and get strong to protect our heritage and protect our country.”
He said he thinks the Republicans are “going to have a very tough election.”
Before the coronavirus pandemic, he said he was on his way to a “blowout” come Election Day.
“This was going to be a blowout, and then China hit us with the ‘China virus,’ and all of a sudden, it discombobulated this country and the entire world. Now, it's a much closer situation,” he said. “We were sailing to an easy victory. Now, I have to fight for the victory, but I've been fighting all my life. That's what I do. I fight for victory.”
He said if he loses the election, it could result in “a system that nobody’s going to want to be a part of, a system that will lead to another Venezuela.”
He said if Joe Biden becomes president the country would go into a “a massive and very deep depression in this country because he intends to raise taxes massively on everybody to pay for programs that don’t work.”
He said his focus for his second term would be on immigration, increased military spending, a deregulated economy and policing.
He said it was a “travesty” that 15 people were killed and nearly 80 were shot in Chicago over the holiday weekend.
He also dispelled rumors that he isn’t actually interested in a second term as president and intends to self-sabotage his campaign.
“I want it with all my breath,” Trump told RCP, “with every ounce of what I represent.”
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