As Trump eyes presidency bid, Republicans in Arizona are ready to back him again

American media has been reporting that former president Donald Trump is expected to announce another bid for the presidency.

During a rally in Iowa on Thursday night, Trump said that he will “very, very, very probably do it again”. 

MaltaToday went to a Republican rally event in Arizona to understand whether everyday Republicans want another Trump presidency to begin with. 

And they certainly do. If Obama is still the heart of the Democratic Party, Trump’s influence looms over Republicans just as strongly.

As songs like ‘Sweet Caroline’ and ‘Party in the USA’ played out in a family park in Scottsdale, many complained that Trump was unfairly vilified during his presidency. 

“Over 70 million voted for Trump. That’s a lot of people in America. But our message doesn’t get out because the media is an extended arm of the Democratic Party,” one woman, Susie, told MaltaToday. 

Another woman said that Trump was treated the same way “all effective Republican presidents have been treated in the past”. 

“[Reagan] was vilified,” she said. “He was treated horribly, like Trump, like George Bush, like every effective president. Only worse – and because it’s so recent, it’s on everyone’s minds.”

With another woman, her choice of clothing was self-explanatory. She joined the rally with a hot pink t-shirt and the words “Women for Trump” printed along the front. She said she had bought it in 2016 and only recently rediscovered it. 

One man in attendance remarked that the presidency election would be a rebalancing opportunity if the Democrats win this year’s midterm elections. “They’re not gonna win, but we still have the presidency in two years. We’ll have to take back the presidency.”

The Saturday rally was hosted by Turning Point Action, a conservative organisation founded in 2019. The group is a force to be reckoned with, having hosted rallies for Trump and Florida Governor Ron DeSantis. 

Its founder, Charlie Kirk, was at Saturday’s rally. “If we overwhelm the system on Tuesday, if we show up in massive numbers, we will send a message to the entire planet that the American citizen is rising and we will not take this anymore,” he told attendees on Saturday.

Nancy Barto is running for the State Senate in Arizona. Also at the rally, she told this newspaper that many Republicans do still support Trump, and would do so in a second presidency bid.

READ ALSO: Arizona | where Trump’s ‘militia’ takes to the streets to monitor voters and ballot drop-boxes

Democrats fear red wave

On Friday, MaltaToday joined other global news outlets for a meeting with officials from the Maricopa County Democratic Party.

While Republicans savour the possibility of another White House campaign for Trump, some Democrats are fearing the worst. 

“I’m genuinely terrified of what they’ll do to our state if they win,” former Democratic Chair Steven Slugocki said.

He added that Trump wants to be president again because he’s out for a vengeance. “He’s a vindictive man.”

Andi Gomez, political director for the Maricopa County Democratic Party, commented that this movement goes beyond Trump. 

“Arizona is the meth lab of democracy. […] The whole movement is solid in Arizona, and that’s what we’re up against on Tuesday. I don’t want this election to just be about Donald Trump.”

READ ALSO: MaltaToday in the USA | The midterm elections explained

Nicole Meilak was invited to the United States on a mid-terms elections tour for journalists by the Embassy of the United States to Malta