Former President Donald Trump attempted to lay the blame for this weekend's attacks on Israel on Joe Biden and said it never would have happened if he were in charge during a campaign speech in New Hampshire on Monday.
"With people pouring into our country and we have no idea from where they come -- the same people, in many cases, the same people that just attacked Israel. You know that, right? Can you imagine what this guy has done to us, what he's done to us? That would have never happened. The attack on Israel would never, ever have happened."
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"What happened yesterday was incredible," he added. "Vicious. Young children just slaughtered... When I was your president, we had peace through strength, and now we have weakness, conflict and chaos. The atrocities we're witnessing in Israel would never have happened if I was president."
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The Biden-Harris 2024 campaign issued a statement Monday following the New Hampshire campaign stop, saying, "With each and every lie, Donald Trump further proves he is too dangerous to lead the United States on the world stage. The generals and other military leaders who served under Trump -- those in a position to know -- have repeatedly said he made our country less safe, not more."
Trump's comments largely mirrored what he said in a statement he issued after the attacks and during a pair of campaign events he held in Iowa on Saturday. As he did in Iowa, Trump cited a $6 billion transfer to Iran that Biden administration officials have insisted has yet to be spent.
Trump, the 2024 Republican presidential frontrunner, spoke for about 90 minutes at the Kingswood Arts Center in Wolfeboro on Monday. He focused much of his attention on Biden and former President Barack Obama, but also took shots at GOP presidential candidates Ron DeSantis and Chris Christie.
"I'm not even sure I'm supposed to be wasting my time talking about him because I hear he's so far down," he said of DeSantis. "He's fallen like a wounded bird from the skies."
Trump even found time during his speech to comment on the recent struggles of the New England Patriots and head coach Bill Belichick.
"They're having a bit of a hard time," he said.
Most of the New Hampshire voters NBC10 Boston spoke with Monday said they are standing behind Trump in his bid for the presidency.
"It's going to take our 45th president to straighten out the country and I don't think anyone can do it better than him," said George Mottram.
"I've never felt so assaulted and ashamed in all my life with where the country has gone, and I want respect again from the world," added Kristen Anderson.
Trump was last in New Hampshire in August, when he held a rally at Windham High School a week after appearing in court for allegedly trying to block the peaceful transfer of power following the 2020 presidential election. He has since been indicted a fourth time. He had previously visited the Granite State on three other occasions this year.
The former president continues to hold a large lead in the polls among Republicans, with other GOP contenders like DeSantis and former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley unable to make up much ground.
A recent Saint Anselm College poll had Trump leading Haley in New Hampshire by a 45% to 15% margin, and a University of New Hampshire poll had him in first at 39%, followed by Vivek Ramaswamy at 13%. A Suffolk University poll released last week had Trump at 49%, followed by Haley at 19%.
The New Hampshire Democratic Party issued a statement Monday criticizing Trump and citing the promises he made during his initial run for president.
"On the campaign trail, Trump talked a big game about supporting working Granite Staters, making promises to cut taxes for the middle class, bring manufacturing jobs back to New Hampshire, address the opioid crisis, and more,” New Hampshire Democratic Party Chair Ray Buckley said in the statement. “Trump made big promises, and what did we get instead? A historically bad economy, three conservative Supreme Court justices who overturned Roe v. Wade, and countless failures to help Granite Staters get the support they need most.”
