Former President Donald Trump took a victory lap during his first rally since departing office, saying of President Joe Biden, "I told you so."
Trump expressed vindication during his Saturday rally in Wellington, Ohio, held to support Max Miller, a Trump-endorsed candidate running a primary challenge to Rep. Anthony Gonzalez, an incumbent Republican who voted in favor of impeaching Trump on the charge of inciting an insurrection.
"The media and the Democrats are now admitting that I was right about everything. ... Now they're saying, 'Well, you know, he was right about these things. That's all right. Big deal, right?'" he said. "They lied about so many things before the election."
Trump pointed to the media's shifting tone on the origins of COVID-19, the effectiveness of hydroxychloroquine in combating the virus, and the use of Lafayette Park as the backdrop for a photo-op amid racial unrest last year as evidence that the press was unfair in its coverage leading up to the 2020 presidential election.
Despite most legacy media outlets initially dismissing the theory that COVID-19 originated in the Wuhan Institute of Virology, evidence has mounted in support of the lab leak theory in recent weeks, and Biden has directed authorities to investigate the possibility within 90 days.
Several news outlets were also dismissive of the effectiveness of hydroxychloroquine in treating COVID-19, but a study published earlier this month found the drug, along with azithromycin, could increase the coronavirus survival rate by as much as nearly 200% if distributed at higher doses to ventilated patients with a severe version of the illness.
On June 9, a government report from the Department of the Interior said that U.S. Park Police did not clear Lafayette Park, situated near the White House, and its surrounding areas of protesters on June 1, 2020, for Trump. Instead, the Park Police learned of Trump's interest in the site several hours after they had already started plans to clear the area to put up new fencing.
Trump, who is believed to be a 2024 contender, also expressed vindication regarding his campaign predictions about his successor.
"Biden is going to drive our economy and our country into ruin," he said, slamming the president for helping to kill the planned Keystone XL pipeline and accusing him of imposing a "devastating" tax hike on U.S. industries.
Trump said Biden's performance has been "embarrassing" on the world stage, accusing him of kowtowing to China.
"Joe Biden is squandering all of this hard-earned respect that we have or had, bowing down to America's enemies, and embarrassing our country on the world stage," he said.
The Save America PAC, a Trump-affiliated political action committee, announced his first post-presidency rally earlier this month.
"President Donald J. Trump, 45th President of the United States of America, will hold a major rally in Wellington, Ohio on Saturday, June 26, 2021 at 7:00PM EDT," the PAC said in a statement.
The PAC said that the rally to support Miller "marks President Trump's first of many appearances in support of candidates and causes that further the MAGA agenda and accomplishments of President Trump's administration."
Ohio's 16th Congressional District, where Miller and Gonzalez are running, is Republican-leaning, with a partisan voter index of R+8, according to the Cook Political Report. The district supported Trump over former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton by more than 15 percentage points in the 2016 presidential election.
Gonzalez was one of 10 House Republicans who voted in favor of the "incitement of insurrection" article of impeachment after the Jan. 6 breach of the Capitol, saying Trump "helped organize and incite a mob that attacked the United States Congress in an attempt to prevent us from completing our solemn duties as prescribed by the Constitution."
Trump was previously impeached on two Ukraine-related charges in 2019 before being acquitted in the GOP-led Senate./WE
