Trump Knocks Immigration, Touts Republicans in Ohio Rally

WELLINGTON, OHIO - At his first rally since leaving the White House, former President Donald Trump on Saturday lambasted the Biden administration's immigration policies and urged his supporters to help Republicans take back majorities in Congress.

While Trump has made speeches at Republican events since his election defeat by Democratic President Joe Biden, the rally in a state he carried in the 2020 election marks a return to the kind of freewheeling mass gatherings that have been critical to retaining the support of his base. Trump left office in the aftermath of the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol by his supporters, shortly after a speech in which he repeated his false claims that his election defeat was the result of fraud. He survived a second impeachment and has kept a broad influence over the Republican Party, in part by leaving open the question of whether he will run for office again in 2024. On Saturday, to a crowd of thousands of cheering supporters, Trump highlighted some of his regular list of grievances, with criticism of U.S. elections and a particular focus on the rising number of immigrants crossing into the United States along its southern border.