In what is likely to be a rare campaign stop in a state that has repudiated Donald Trump’s candidacy in the past two presidential elections, Donald Trump Jr. played the surrogate role Friday in a visit to the west suburbs to deliver a critique of President Joe Biden’s administration and air grievances over the treatment of his father.
On a stage at an Addison banquet hall before more than 300 people, the younger Trump lashed out at Biden, Biden’s son, Hunter, defeated 2016 Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton, the media, COVID, China and Republican support for funding Ukraine in its war with Russia — all laced with attempts at humor.
He downplayed the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection at the U.S. Capitol, which was fomented by his father and is the subject of the most serious charges the former president faces in federal court.
“He’s a young and vibrant guy. But 1,000 years is a long time. It’s probably too much for him,” the younger Trump said, exaggerating an estimate of more than 600 years in prison his father faces if convicted and jailed on the 91 criminal charges that have been filed against him.
“But again, fake insurrections, you know. The first unarmed insurrection in the history of the world,” he said of Jan. 6, failing to acknowledge that protesters supporting Trump used stun guns, pepper and bear spray, baseball bats and flagpoles to try to subvert the counting of Electoral College votes that formally elected Biden.
Karen Tirio, chair of the McHenry County Conservative Political Action Committee, who introduced Trump Jr. for their fundraiser, called Jan. 6 a “supposed insurrection” and made the baseless conspiratorial claim that it “has now been proven to be an inside job.”
Though former President Trump had made previous visits to Illinois both as a White House candidate and as president, the state soundly rejected his candidacy by 17 percentage points in both 2016 and 2020.
In the last two presidential elections, five of Illinois’ once solidly Republican suburban collar counties supported the Democratic candidate, a reflection of demographic and ideological shifts in the past two decades. McHenry was the only collar county that backed Trump.
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Despite those outcomes, Trump Jr., appearing in a DuPage County that was long the hotbed of suburban Republicanism but is no longer, labeled his father’s suburban failures as a “creation of the media.”
“That’s the problem with what goes on between media, Big Tech. They come up with their narrative, they drive it. When they’re proven that they’re incorrect, it doesn’t matter. They just move on. There’s no fixing it. They get the wind that they want from their narrative, and they keep going. I think people are waking up to that,” he told reporters after his 40-minute talk.
“I have a feeling (suburban voters) understand that Trump was the guy that actually built an economy, that created jobs, that did all these things,” he said. “That doesn’t mean that the media lens is ever going to be fair or honest about it, but I think they understand just how corrupted that system is.”
As he crisscrossed the ballroom stage, Trump Jr. questioned Biden’s mental and physical fitness for office, noting the Democratic president has stumbled but omitting mention of his own father’s agility miscues.
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He also attacked Hunter Biden over his heroin addiction and accused him of profiting from foreign governments. He did not mention the value of the trademarks his sister, Ivanka, has obtained from China and other foreign governments.
As for rumors of his own cocaine use, which he has denied, Trump Jr. said, “I’m not exactly low energy, but like, if I was actually on coke, I would probably be very different.”
Trump Jr. also contended the military-industrial complex was pushing for more U.S. involvement in Ukraine’s fight against Russia and in Israel’s war against Hamas.
“Someone said something funny on Twitter the other day that was sort of interesting. You know we’re going to war because it’s the first time in about 10 years that they’ve seen Army recruitment videos that actually featured white guys again,” he said. “Hey, it’s sort of funny, right?”
As for coming to Illinois, Trump Jr. said it is “not necessarily true” that the state that has voted for every Democratic presidential nominee since 1992 is unwinnable for his father.
“I think America is in a very perilous state right now both economically, foreign policy-wise, we’re on the brink of war, the economy is collapsing, inflation is going through the roof and people are gonna get really hurt,” he said. “It’s about having people understand that and you have to preach that message to everyone, not just places where it’s, you know, let’s call it a more favorable audience in terms of conservative versus liberal.”
Attending the event was last year’s unsuccessful GOP governor candidate, former state Sen. Darren Bailey of Xenia. Bailey is challenging incumbent Republican U.S. Rep. Mike Bost of Murphysboro in southern Illinois and is seeking the former president’s endorsement, which he got late in last year’s GOP governor primary.
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Bailey met with the elder Trump on Thursday at Mar-a-Lago, flew with Trump Jr.’s team to the event and was hosting him at a fundraiser in Effingham on Friday night.
Bailey said he expects to get the former president’s endorsement and told reporters that if the elder Trump is convicted on any of the charges he faces, “my opinion (of the former president) won’t change.”
Asked about three former Trump lawyers who agreed to plea deals in Georgia over charges of trying to subvert the election results, Bailey said, “What I see in government, anybody can be bought and paid for and opinions changed based on power and position.”
