Lucy Nicholson/Reuters/ZUMA
Bucking his preference for off-the-cuff remarks, Donald Trump addressed his supporters as Tuesday’s primary returns came in using a scripted speech that attempted to paint the real estate magnate as a measured politician. The speech comes on the heels of a disastrous two weeks for the presumptive Republican nominee, after he accused the federal judge overseeing his Trump University case of bias against him because of the judge’s “Mexican heritage.”
“I understand the responsibility of carrying the mantle, and I will never ever let you down,” Trump said, speaking from the Trump National Golf Club in Westchester, New York. “I will make you proud of your party and the movement.”
Trump largely focused his speech on continuing his attacks against Hillary Clinton and hinted at a major speech next Monday that would criticize her and her husband. At one point, he said Clinton had “turned the State Department into her private hedge fund”—a charge that prompted applause from the room.
Trump also nodded to Bernie Sanders’ supporters by appealing to their dissatisfaction with the Democratic nomination system, saying that he would welcome Sanders’ base to join his fight against Clinton with “open arms.”
