唐纳德·特朗普在刚刚过去的这个周末的回归中有很多话要说——关于内战，关于最近的校园枪击案，关于磁铁去爱荷华州竞选距离2024年初选投票开始只有几天了。
这位前总统还因他关于亚伯拉罕·林肯(Abraham Lincoln)是否可以通过谈判结束内战、已故参议员约翰·麦凯恩(John McCain)(一个经常的敌人)的评论以及他再次将与1月6日有关的被起诉者称为“人质”的评论引发了反弹——这与他在给艾奥瓦人的闭幕词中关注自己的法律问题和报复的方式相呼应。
特朗普周六在爱荷华州牛顿市发表讲话时表示，内战“如此可怕，但又如此迷人”，并暗示这场因奴隶制问题而爆发的冲突本来可以谈判解决。
“看，老实说，有些事情我认为是可以协商的。我觉得你可以协商一下。所有的人都死了，那么多人死了，”他说。
特朗普发表上述言论之前，前联合国大使妮基·黑利在上月下旬的竞选活动中回答一个问题时，最初没有将奴隶制作为内战的原因，这引发了她的争议。特朗普说，如果有人问他这个问题，他会引用奴隶制。周六，他继续说，如果林肯总统通过谈判结束战争，他就不会这么有名。
“如果他通过谈判达成协议，你可能连亚伯拉罕·林肯是谁都不知道，”特朗普说。“他可能会成为总统，但他可能会成为总统，可能会成为——他可能不会成为亚伯拉罕·林肯。”
一些共和党批评者很快抓住特朗普不同寻常的评论，质疑这位前总统想说什么。
“我甚至不知道他在说什么，”佛罗里达州州长罗恩·德桑蒂斯2024年的候选人告诉美国广播公司新闻的雷切尔·斯科特。“我的意思是，林肯做了他必须做的事情。他最终宣布废除奴隶制，并拯救了联邦。这对共和党来说是一个巨大的胜利。”
“所以，我不知道。重新调查对我来说没有多大意义，”德桑蒂斯补充道。
2024年1月6日，共和党总统候选人、前总统唐纳德·特朗普在爱荷华州牛顿市得梅因地区社区学院的集会上发表演讲。
安德鲁·哈尔尼克/美联社
前共和党众议员利兹·切尼(Liz Cheney)在谴责特朗普的行为之前是她所在政党在国会的领导层成员，她在x上对特朗普的内战言论做出了回应。
“南北战争的哪一部分‘可以谈判’奴隶制部分?分离的部分?”她写道。
作为回应，特朗普的竞选团队没有详细说明他的意思，而是抨击了“吐出仇恨”的“精英主义者”。
在牛顿演讲的前一天，特朗普在梅森市利用了海利最近引起强烈抗议的另一条评论——当她表示新罕布什尔州选民可以“纠正”爱荷华州党团会议的结果时——说，“她才是需要纠正的人。你不必被纠正。”
尽管特朗普继续批评民主党对手乔·拜登(Joe Biden)的年龄和失误，但特朗普也发表了奇怪的评论。周五，他在一次关于磁力电梯的咆哮中谎称磁铁在水下不起作用。
“当磁性电梯——想想看——磁铁。现在，我对磁铁的所有了解是这样的:给我一杯水，让我把它滴在磁铁上，这就是磁铁的尽头，”特朗普在梅森市的集会上说。
在初选中明显落后于特朗普的德桑蒂斯指出，这是特朗普“失去一些活力”的一个例子。
特朗普呼吁释放嫌疑人，以此纪念1月6日
特朗普周六的竞选活动也恰逢1月6日美国国会大厦骚乱三周年，当时国会聚集在一起，证明他输给了拜登。
他利用这一天猛烈抨击他面临的选举颠覆指控，部分原因是当天的事件，并攻击1月6日调查的众议院委员会的共和党成员，同时推动拜登“释放”那些因袭击而被拘留的人。(特朗普否认了所有不当行为。)
“有人称他们为囚犯。我称他们为人质。释放J6人质，乔。放开他们，乔。你可以很容易做到，乔，”特朗普说。
在几周的竞选活动中，特朗普对那些在1月6日被起诉的人表示同情，有时在他的活动中加入一首由一群因自己在骚乱中的角色而被监禁的人演唱的歌曲。
关于麦凯恩、佩里校园枪击案的声明
在政策方面，川普周末重申了他的竞选承诺，试图废除并取代患者保护与平价医疗法案，也就是奥巴马医改。
尽管特朗普尚未提供全面的医疗保健法的全面替代方案，但在谈到这个问题时，他抨击了已故参议员麦凯恩麦凯恩晚年曾与特朗普发生冲突，他在越南战争中受伤。
“你知道，没有约翰·麦凯恩，我们早就完成了。但约翰·麦凯恩出于某种原因，无法举起他的手臂，”特朗普说，显然是在嘲笑麦凯恩在2017年投票反对共和党领导的废除奥巴马医改的法案的选择。
约翰·麦凯恩的女儿梅根·麦凯恩在社交媒体上回应了特朗普对他的批评。
“我父亲是美国的英雄。一个图标。一个将被历史铭记的爱国者，”她在X上写道，并继续称特朗普为“否认选举的小贩。”
在周末的竞选活动中，特朗普还对另一个问题做出了回应校园枪击案这一次是在爱荷华州佩里的一所高中，当时共和党总统候选人正向该州袭来。
特朗普向受枪击事件影响的家庭表达了他的想法和祈祷，称发生在爱荷华州“令人惊讶”，但人们“必须向前看”。
根据爱荷华州公共安全部的说法，一名11岁的六年级学生在枪击中丧生，七人“受到不同程度的伤害”。
一些特朗普的盟友和选民表示，他长期以来发表煽动性甚至攻击性评论的习惯是他风格的一部分。
“他知道他是谁。他对自己很自信。他走下金色的自动扶梯(在2015年首次竞选总统)，因为这就是他，”南达科他州州长克里斯蒂·诺姆(Kristi Noem)被认为是特朗普副总统候选人的可能竞争者，上周为这位前总统发表演讲时说。
“除了真实的自己，他从不伪装成其他任何人。他也不认为自己比你们任何人都强，”诺姆说。
尽管支持者承认他的语言可能会让其他人反感，但他们表示并不担心。
“每个人都不喜欢他说话的方式。但是我，我不喜欢你拐弯抹角，”来自艾奥瓦州安肯尼的贾米拉·琼斯说，他在上个月的一次活动中为川普竞选做志愿者。“我喜欢你直接而自信。很多人现在都接受不了。我们处在一个每个人都非常敏感的时代。”
明尼苏达州基斯特的布鲁斯·西斯泰德(Bruce Thisted)周五参加了特朗普在爱荷华州梅森市的集会，他说他不确定特朗普是否对他面临的刑事指控有罪。但Thisted表示，他认为特朗普可能对1月6日煽动骚乱负有“轻微责任”。
“我的意思是，”斯泰德说，“他有一张嘴。”
Trump sounds off on the Civil War, again goes after John McCain and criticizes magnets
Donald Trump had much to say -- about the Civil War, about a recent school shooting, about magnets -- in his return this past weekendto campaign in Iowawith just days before voting starts in the 2024 primary race.
The former president also sparked backlash for his comments about whether Abraham Lincoln could have negotiated an end to the Civil War, about the late Sen. John McCain (a frequent foe) and as he once again labeled people prosecuted in connection with Jan. 6 as "hostages" -- echoing how he is focusing on his own legal troubles and retribution in his closing message to Iowans.
While giving remarks in Newton, Iowa, on Saturday, Trump said the Civil War was "so horrible, but so fascinating," going on to suggest that the conflict, which was fought over the issue of slavery, could have been negotiated.
"See, there was something I think could've been negotiated, to be honest with you. I think you could've negotiated that. All the people died, so many people died," he said.
Trump's comments came in the wake of former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley stirring her own controversy for not initially citing slavery as the cause of the Civil War in response to a question while on the campaign trail late last month. Trump, who said he would've cited slavery had he been asked that question, on Saturday went on to say that President Lincoln wouldn't have been as famous if he did negotiate to end the war.
"If he negotiated it, you probably wouldn't even know who Abraham Lincoln was," Trump said. "He would have been president, but he would have been president and would have been -- he wouldn't have been the Abraham Lincoln."
Some Republican critics soon seized on Trump's unusual comments, questioning what the former president was trying to say.
"I don't even know what he's talking about,"Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, a 2024 candidate, told ABC News' Rachel Scott. "I mean, Lincoln did what he had to do. He ended up ushering in the abolition of slavery and he saved the Union. That's a huge victory for the Republican Party."
"So, I don't know. Relitigating that doesn't make much sense to me," DeSantis added.
Former Republican Rep. Liz Cheney, who was a member of her party's leadership in Congress before denouncing Trump's behavior, reacted to his Civil War remarks on X.
"Which part of the Civil War 'could have been negotiated' The slavery part? The secession part?" she wrote.
In response, the Trump campaign didn't elaborate on what he meant, instead slamming "elitists" who "spew their hatred."
In Mason City one day before his Newton speech, Trump capitalized on Haley's other recent comment that drew outcry -- when she indicated that New Hampshire voters could "correct" the results of the Iowa caucuses -- by saying, "She's the one who needs to be corrected. You don't have to be corrected."
And though Trump continues to criticize Democratic rival Joe Biden for his age and stumbles, Trump also makes odd comments. On Friday, he falsely claimed during a rant about magnetic elevators that magnets don't work underwater.
"When the magnetic elevators -- think of it -- magnets. Now, all I know about magnets is this: Give me a glass of water, let me drop it on the magnets, that's the end of the magnets," Trump said at his rally in Mason City.
DeSantis, who notably trails Trump in primary polling, pointed to that as an example of how Trump "has lost some zip."
Trump marks Jan. 6 by calling for release of suspects
Trump's campaign events on Saturday also coincided with the third anniversary of the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol, when Congress had gathered to certify his loss to Biden.
He used the day to slam the election subversion charges he faces, in part due to the events of that day, and to attack the Republican members of the House committee that investigated Jan. 6 while pushing for Biden to "release" those detained in connection with the attack. (Trump has denied all wrongdoing.)
"Some people call them prisoners. I call them hostages. Release the J6 hostages, Joe. Release them, Joe. You can do it real easy, Joe," Trump said.
For weeks on the campaign trail, Trump has expressed sympathy toward those prosecuted over Jan. 6, at times by including in his events a song sung by a group of men incarcerated for their own roles in the riot.
Statements about McCain, Perry school shooting
In terms of policy, Trump over the weekend reiterated his campaign promise to try to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare.
Though Trump has yet to offer a comprehensive alternative to the sweeping health care law, while talking about the issue he made a swipe at thelate Sen. McCain's arm injury, which McCain -- who late in life clashed with Trump -- had suffered while serving in the Vietnam War.
"You know, without John McCain, we would have had it done. But John McCain, for some reason, couldn't get his arm up," Trump said, apparently mocking McCain's choice in 2017 to vote against a Republican-led bill to repeal Obamacare.
John McCain's daughter Meghan McCain, who has been vocal in challenging Trump's criticism of him, responded on social media.
"My dad was an American hero. An icon. A patriot that will be remembered throughout history," she wrote on X, going on to call Trump an "election denying, huckster."
During his weekend campaign swing, Trump also reacted to yet anotherschool shooting-- this time in Perry, Iowa, at a high school as Republican presidential hopefuls were descending upon the state.
Trump offered his thoughts and prayers to the families affected in the shooting, saying it's "so surprising" it happened in Iowa but that people "have to move forward."
An 11-year-old sixth grader was killed and seven people "received wounds or injuries of varying degrees" in the shooting, according to the Iowa Department of Public Safety.
Some Trump allies and voters said his long habit of incendiary and even offensive comments were part of his style.
"He knows who he is. He's confident in who he is. He came down a golden escalator [to first run for president in 2015] because that's who he is," South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem, thought to be a possible contender for Trump's vice-presidential candidate pick, said while stumping for the former president last week.
"He never pretended to be anybody else other than who he is. And he doesn't think he's better than any of you," Noem said.
Supporters, even as they acknowledged his language can be off-putting to others, have said they are not fazed by it.
"Everybody has an issue with the way that he speaks. But me, I don't like you to beat around the bush," said Jamila Jones, from Ankeny, Iowa, who volunteered for the Trump campaign at an event last month. "I like you to be direct and assertive. And a lot of people can't handle that right now. We're in a day and age where everybody's so sensitive."
Bruce Thisted of Kiester, Minnesota, who attended Trump's rally in Mason City, Iowa, on Friday, said he's not sure if Trump is guilty of the criminal charges he's facing. But Thisted said he believes Trump might be "slightly responsible" for instigating rioters on Jan. 6.
"I mean," Thisted said, "he's got a mouth on him."
