Trump stumps for Ohio’s JD Vance but acknowledges Vance’s flip-flop
At a rally in Youngstown, Ohio, on Saturday night on behalf of GOP Senate nominee J.D. Vance ahead of the midterms, former President Donald Trump came out defiant against the numerous investigations into him while continuing to rally his base against his political enemies.
And though Trump was in Ohio to rally support for Vance ahead of “the most important midterm election in U.S. history,” he also took a swipe at his candidate while trying to tout the power of his own endorsement.
“J.D. is kissing my a--, he wants my support so bad!” Trump said to laughter from the crowd.
Trump addressed Vance's previous criticism of him, saying that was “before he knew me and then he fell in love”-- which Trump likened to his relationship with North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un.
The former president -- who has been teasing an expected 2024 presidential bid -- made a number of influential endorsements in GOP primaries this year, even as some in his party, like Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan, said Trump's candidates would be weaker in the general election.
Trump has used his popularity with primary voters to target some of his Republican critics, including House members who voted for his impeachment or local lawmakers who didn't back his false 2020 election claims.
Labeling opponents, including those investigating him, as “thugs and tyrants,” Trump said at Saturday’s rally that they “have no idea of the sleeping giant that they have awoken” -- just days after he warned there would be “big problems” if he were to be indicted.
Among the notable probes against him is a federal case over his handling of what the government says was highly classified and sensitive material that Trump took with him after leaving office. He denies wrongdoing.
And just days after Sen. Lindsey Graham introduced a bill for a federal 15-week abortion ban, Trump reiterated his support for leaving it up to the states -- and warned that Republicans should “get smart” on the issue.
-- ABC News' Olivia Rubin