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Donald Trump in front of supporters in Valdosta, Georgia: "A very gracious loser"
Photo: STAN BADZ / EPA-EFE / Shutterstock
It was a performance that one could hardly have expected otherwise after the experiences of the past weeks and months: For the first time since his election defeat, Donald Trump spoke in front of thousands of supporters in Georgia.
His speech was a mixture of the contradictory and the untrue, of boasting and threatening gestures.
About the US Democrats, whose candidate Joe Biden had clearly won the presidential election, the incumbent US president in the city of Valdosta said, for example: "You cheated and manipulated our presidential election, but we will still win."
At the same time, however, Trump also indirectly brought his possible candidacy in four years into play - by law, Trump is only allowed to run in 2024 if he resigns as head of state in a few weeks: The US President's term of office is limited to two periods of four years each do not have to follow one another.
Trump is about power - and about money
Trump now spoke of the fact that he would now "win back" the White House.
"And then in 2024 - and hopefully I don't have to run for office then - we'll win back the White House." His message: Either way, the Trump era is far from over.
In his more than one and a half hour speech, the Republican announced that he would continue to take legal action against the election results in contested states - up to the Supreme Court in Washington, the US Supreme Court.
Trump has now suffered countless legal defeats, and his fight for the White House is obviously hopeless.
It is possible that Trump is currently primarily concerned with keeping his huge following in a good mood - also for financial reasons: Trump's wealth has shrunk massively during his presidency, and liabilities are obviously increasing.
He wants to pay off his debts with the help of donations from his fans, as it became known in November.
"I would be a very gracious loser"
Donald Trump
The appearance in Georgia should also be part of this strategy.
There Trump again claimed that hundreds of thousands of illegal votes had been cast in the November 3rd election.
US Attorney General William Barr, a Trump ally, had recently dug up this conspiracy theory: There is no evidence of massive electoral fraud that would lead to a different result.
Trump attorneys have filed dozens of lawsuits in six states - Georgia, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Nevada, Arizona and Wisconsin - with no success so far.
These six states have since certified their results, after which Biden won there.
Some lawsuits from the Trump camp are still pending, including in Georgia.
In addition, Trump also messes with party colleagues: Immediately before his appearance, the President had increased the pressure on the Republican Governor of Georgia, Brian Kemp.
US media unanimously reported that Trump had called on Kemp to convene a special session of parliament and to persuade MPs to tilt the election result in his favor.
"If I lost, I would be a very gracious loser," Trump said now.
“If I lost I would say I lost and I would go to Florida and take it easy and I would go around saying I did a good job.
But you can never accept it if they steal and manipulate and rob. ”The responsible US authorities classified the election on November 3rd as the safest in American history.
Trump obviously sees it differently.
But although he has been stirring up doubts about the electoral system for weeks, he has now urgently called for the re-election of the two Republican Senators David Perdue and Kelly Loeffler from Georgia.
You will face Democrats Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock in a runoff election on January 5th.
The election is of paramount importance because it determines the majority in the US Senate.
If the Democrats manage to win the two seats in Georgia, there would be a stalemate in the Senate.
Then the future Vice President Kamala Harris, who is also President of the Senate, would have the last word in the event of a tie.
That would effectively give the Democrats a majority.
Polls recently saw the two Democratic challengers close ahead in Georgia.
Republicans in Georgia are faced with a dilemma ahead of the runoff election: Trump's constant allegations that the electoral system is not to be trusted anyway are likely to deter Republicans from voting.
Trump still wants to mobilize his supporters: "The answer to the Democrats' deception is not to stay at home," he said.
The best way to get revenge on the Democrats is to have record numbers of Republicans voting.
Trump is not the only one currently campaigning in Georgia.
As early as Friday, ex-President Barack Obama urged the election of the two Democratic candidates for the Senate.
"You have to understand that this is not all about Georgia," Obama said at an online Democratic event: "This is about America and this is about the world."
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mxw / dpa