Trump in New Hampshire talks 'unfinished business' with Biden, ignores legal troubles

MANCHESTER, N.H. – Nearly a month after being indicted and a day after a woman in a courtroom accused him of rape, Donald Trump met a more-than-receptive crowd in Manchester, New Hampshire in his first public event in the Granite State since leaving office.

But in remarks that lasted longer than an hour, Trump zeroed in on attacking President Joe Biden and his potential 2024 opponents. The former president did not mention his myriad legal troubles at all – and the crowd did not seem to care.

At the DoubleTree by Hilton hotel, hundreds of Trump's most avid supporters were eager to met him in a packed room along with hundreds of others outside in overflow. The welcome was so warm, attendees booed and jeered at New Hampshire Republican state legislators when the event kicked off, chanting "We want Trump!"

"Next year we're going to make history together. We're going to win the New Hampshire primary for the third straight time," Trump said to raucous applause from the crowd.

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Trump zeroes in on Biden before winning 2024 GOP primary

Trump also visited New Hampshire two days after Biden formally declared his bid for re-election next year. His stump largely centered on attacking the current commander-in-chief.

In mocking both the announcement and the Biden presidency, Trump said "we are going to crush Joe Biden at the ballot box, and we are going to settle our unfinished business."

"The choice in this election is now between strength or weakness, between success or failure, between safety or anarchy, between peace or conflict, and prosperity or catastrophe," Trump said.

Biden has repeatedly criticized Trump as a threat to democracy given his attempts to overturn the 2020 election and repeated false claims of election fraud. Before his strongest supporters, Trump argued it was Biden instead who was the threat, making unsubstantiated accusations against the president.

Related: President Biden wants to repeat his 2020 formula in 2024 reelection bid. It won't be easy.

"It's Biden who poses the threat to democracy because he is grossly incompetent, has no idea what's he's doing and basically he doesn't have a clue." Trump said.

Trump also claimed he left Biden with a "booming economy" that he promptly "blew to shreds" after he took office, taking credit for low gas prices and championing the Trump administration's various trade wars.

In response to Donald Trump’s attempts to rewrite his economic record in New Hampshire, Democratic National Committee spokesperson Ammar Moussa released the following statement:

“Trump’s lies won’t change the fact he holds the worst jobs record of any president since the Great Depression and rigged the economy for the ultra-wealthy and biggest corporations. Trump’s stewardship of the economy was an abject disaster, in stark contrast to the over 12 million jobs the Biden-Harris administration has helped deliver for America in just two years. ”

Will Biden win?: 3 clues to track – and his approval rating isn't one of them

Trump questions why he would debate opponents

Trump traveled to New Hampshire just days after he suggested he might boycott Republican debates, claiming he is too far ahead to participate.

“When you’re way up, you don’t do debates," he told New York-based WABC radio.

Trump reiterated his skepticism of the debates in Manchester and questioned why he would debate with his potential opponents who are polling behind him, including "DeSanctus" and "Sloppy Chris Christie," referring to the former New Jersey governor currently mulling a bid.

Trump's New Hampshire venue identical to DeSantis

Trump spoke as DeSantis prepared to wrap up a four-day foreign trip designed in part to burnish foreign policy plans.

Trump spoke at the Doubletree by Hilton hotel in Manchester, a common venue choice for presidential aspirants. But the setting was notable for a candidate that was in the same room not much earlier: DeSantis.

DeSantis made his first stop in the Granite State in April, headlining the state GOP’s biggest annual fundraising gala filled with New Hampshire-based political donors and insiders – a stark contrast to Trump’s event that packed the hotel with his most diehard supporters from all around the New England area.

The former president did not take aim at DeSantis, but touted his lead in the polls compared to multiple of his competitors.

Trump also went after GOP New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu, one of the most popular governors in the country and a potential opponent in the 2024 race, calling him "a nasty guy" to boos and jeers from the crowd.

Sununu has been one of Trump's most vocal critics within the Republican party and he has on multiple times argued Trump could not win a general election.

"He should stop being a nasty guy and telling people that I won't win in the general election, which I will," Trump said.

Who is Chris Sununu?: New Hampshire GOP governor considers run for president in 2024

Trump voter still sticking with him: He is not 'completely innocent'

Some of the New Hampshire Republicans who attended the rally said they are sticking with Trump because they find the allegations to be politically motivated.

Jackie Bellanti, 80, who said she is dead-set on voting for Trump in the 2024 primary elections, said Trump is not “completely innocent," but she added that "I don’t think he’s a crooked man.”

Bellanti also said there is no other option for her. “Who else? Who else is out that we can really trust?” Bellanti said, adding that she admires what she calls Trump’s honesty and confrontational style.

Roger Heon, 54, from Belmont, New Hampshire, said he could envision voting for DeSantis, but he has already decided on voting for Trump.

“He doesn’t hold back,” Heon said.

Related: New poll shows many Democrats prefer someone else over Biden

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Donald Trump in New Hampshire focuses on Joe Biden, ignores lawsuits