Trump Launches 2020 Campaign to Cries of 'Lock Her Up'

He spoke in Orlando Tuesday night
By Rob Quinn,  Newser Staff
Posted Jun 19, 2019 12:48 AM CDT
Trump Officially Kicks Off 2020 Campaign
President Trump, center, speaks to supporters where he formally announced his 2020 re-election bid Tuesday, June 18, 2019, in Orlando, Fla.   (AP Photo/John Raoux)

"We are going to keep on fighting and we’re going to keep on winning, winning, winning," President Trump declared at a rally in Orlando on Tuesday night to officially kick off his 2020 campaign. There were strong echoes of his 2016 campaign at the 20,000-seat Amway Center, where a near-capacity crowd chanted "Lock her up" and "Build the wall," the Wall Street Journal reports. During his 75-minute speech, the president slammed "radical" Democrats, though he spent more time talking about Hillary Clinton than any of the party's 2020 contenders. "A vote for any Democrat in 2020 is a vote for the rise of radical socialism and the destruction of the American dream," he said.

Trump returned to numerous familiar themes during the speech, attacking the "fake news" media and promising to "drain the swamp," the Guardian reports. He also slammed the Mueller investigation, though he claimed it had completely exonerated him. Before he took the stage with Melania Trump—who said they were looking forward to "another six years"—Trump was introduced by Vice President Mike Pence, the Orlando Sentinel reports. "It's on, everybody," Pence said. "It's time for Round 2. The 503-day campaign for America’s future starts tonight." The AP notes that while the event marked the ceremonial launch of the re-election campaign, Trump "never really stopped running": He filed for re-election on the day he was inaugurated in 2017 and held his first 2020 rally weeks later. (More Trump 2020 stories.)

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