The Republican front-runner for the 2024 presidential candidacy, Donald Trump, led an emotional rally in Hialeah on Wednesday. It took place at the same time as five other presidential hopefuls fought for the spotlight at the NBC-organized Republican debate in downtown Miami.
The rally, which was held at the Ted Hendricks Stadium, centered around the Biden administration’s foreign policy and the current state of the economy. During the event, several attendees shared a sentiment of division among hardline Trump and the rest of the Republican party.
“I believe there’s no other option. It cannot be a Republican or Democrat, it must be a MAGA candidate,” said Yuri Cueva, a Miramar Cruise industry worker. He added that neither the broader Republican party nor the Democratic party can provide an alternative she can support.
“When it comes to the economy, housing, gas (…) and when it comes to the border as well, we are outnumbered,” Cueva said, insisting that despite the fact a second-generation Hispanic immigrant, she wants tighter control of the southern border.
Cueva and other supporters insist that the mounting legal investigations and evidence of corruption are proof that he is the best Republican candidate to pursue the presidency.
“Donald Trump is the best option that we have right now,” said Mabel Sanches, a retired veteran and self-defined MAGA Republican. “And I believe that everyone is against him because he is a good person.”
Trump also blamed the current conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East on the Biden administration, “I kept Israel safe, I kept Ukraine safe (…) it would have never happened under the Trump administration.”
Trump is pursuing the Republican candidacy for president, as federal, state, and local prosecutors in Georgia, New York and Washington D.C. pursue legal cases against the former president for charges of fraud, racketeering and attempts to overturn the 2020 presidential election.
