WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — Former President Donald Trump, who is currently the front-runner for the Republican Party’s nomination for president, blamed President Joe Biden for the current war in Israel on Wednesday night in West Palm Beach.
“With crooked Joe Biden, you have chaos, bloodshed, war, terror and death," Trump told a few thousand supporters at the Palm Beach Convention Center. "Look what’s happening today."
Trump didn’t speak about House Republicans' inability to vote on a new speaker of the House. Rep. Steve Scalise (R-LA) won a vote to become the nominee for the gavel, but he doesn’t have the required 217 floor votes as of Wednesday night.
Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL), who helped depose Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif), also appeared at the event on Wednesday night but didn't speak.
He received one of the louder ovations during the night after Trump introduced him to the crowd.
Trump arrived on stage about an hour later, which gave Gaetz more time to attend the event because the GOP House Conference voted on a new speaker in Washington on Wednesday afternoon.
The former president spoke for 1 hour and 40 minutes to a crowd of supporters. He briefly attacked his primary opponents, including Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, then began speaking about his efforts to move the United States embassy to Jerusalem recognizing Israel’s sovereignty and leading talks to get more Arab countries to establish diplomatic relations with Israel.
He wants to reinstate his travel ban of Muslims entering the United States.
Trump then blamed Joe Biden’s Administration for the attack, saying he loosened sanctions on Iran and spent money to get US hostages back from the country.
“The occupant of the White House is a laughingstock,” he said. “We have a man who is grossly incompetent. Can’t put two sentences together.”
Rep. Lois Frankel, the Democrat whose congressional district serves West Palm Beach, said Trump is more interested in spreading hateful and extreme ideology than helping Israel in a written statement. She also praised Biden for his defense of Israel with the rest of the world.
“The former president appears more interested in continuing to spread hateful, extreme MAGA ideology,” Frankel said. “Moments like this remind us why we are grateful to have a compassionate, proven and unifying president like Joe Biden.”
A group named Club 47 hosted the event. According to the Florida Secretary of State’s Office website, the group is a nonprofit under the name Club 45 USA, Inc.
Officials said the group changed the name after the 2020 election because it wanted to help the former president get re-elected. It describes itself as an organization to help Trump supporters stay connected and help re-elect for the former president.