During an appearance at the Turning Point USA Student Action Summit in Florida on Saturday, July 23, former Republican President Donald Trump claimed he is the "most persecuted" person in American history.
Turning Point USA (TPUSA) is a nonprofit organization that advocates for "conservative values" on high school, college and university campuses. The organization was cofounded in 2012 by longtime Trump supporter Charlie Kirk.
Trump claimed a friend told him he is "the most persecuted person in the history of our country," adding he "never thought of it that way" because he "didn't have time to think about getting persecuted because I was fighting persecution."
He went on to say "there's been no politician or President treated like I've been treated." All of his remarks were met with silence from the conservative crowd.
You can see the moment for yourself in the video below.
\u201cTrump suggests he is the most persecuted person in American history as his audience sits in silence. Suffice it to say this was not a speech that will get TPUSA people pumped up.\u201d— Aaron Rupar (@Aaron Rupar) 1658621076
Trump has a long history of playing the victim.
He continues to claim, for instance, he was the rightful winner of the 2020 presidential election despite no evidence Democrat Joe Biden was not the rightful winner.
He has also often accused Democrats of orchestrating a political smear campaign against him in response to investigations into his ties to the Russian government and has constructed a narrative where he is innocent of any and all crimes he is credibly accused of, including an ongoing investigation into his financial malfeasance in the state of New York.
When he's brought these things up at rallies, he's typically been met by applause, so the fact this time he was not—and at one of the most prominent conservative events for young people in the country—had some people wondering if they'd woken up in a parallel universe.
Social media users made their observations known and mocked him for it.
\u201cWant to know why? Because you have done so much to be persecuted for...\u201d— I am the storm. Mask Up People! (@I am the storm. Mask Up People!) 1658754303
\u201cThere's a good reason he has been, in his words, treated differently than any other president. No other president launched an attack on our country because they didn't win, no one else even thought about it. We hate sore losers in this country and he's the biggest.\u201d— Doug Hammond (@Doug Hammond) 1658690326
\u201cI just...\n\nI..\n\nWhat world...\n\nIt's a joke right? this is a simulation right? We're in the wrong multiverse right?\u201d— The New Evangelicals (@The New Evangelicals) 1658761559
\u201cBecause he\u2019s been criming bigly.\u201d— Diana Manister (@Diana Manister) 1658703659
\u201cHe's lucky right now to not be the most prosecuted person in history. Hopefully that changes.\u201d— Derrick is PRO CHOICE\u264e #BLM \ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\udde6 \ud83c\udff3\ufe0f\u200d\ud83c\udf08 (@Derrick is PRO CHOICE\u264e #BLM \ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\udde6 \ud83c\udff3\ufe0f\u200d\ud83c\udf08) 1658676087
\u201cWhat\u2019s ironic about this lie is that HRC actually IS the most persecuted person in US history\u2026 & I\u2019m betting there were \u201clock her up\u201d chants during this speech.\u201d— Candidus \ud83c\udf3b (@Candidus \ud83c\udf3b) 1658710259
\u201cIn my view, Trump is laying the groundwork to save face after his impending banishment from the leading edge of the R party, while donning a crown of thorns and playing the persecution card so that he may simultaneously continue the family grift on his \u201ctrue believers\u201d.\u201d— Will Seyffert (@Will Seyffert) 1658678449
\u201cSo how do American people have a better life listening to this poor, poor man telling us how much he is persecuted. Trump is the biggest whiner and assuredly the most #UglyAmerican.\u201d— Iris (@Iris) 1658679407
\u201cHe should have been by now the most prosecuted person in the world. He\u2019s still skating.\u201d— Boomer Bob Rises once Again. (@Boomer Bob Rises once Again.) 1658681525
The viral moment at the Turning Point USA conference came one day after Trump was booed at an Arizona rally after mentioning his endorsement of House candidate Eli Crane.
While Crane is currently the top fundraising Republican candidate in a race that includes seven other candidates, he has been called a "carpetbagger" for running in a district he has never actually lived in, information that has not endeared him to rural voters.
Crane is the second so-called carpetbagger Trump endorsed.
The former POTUS also threw his support behind New Jersey Republican Mehmet Oz for a United States Senate seat for Pennsylvania.
The Pennsylvania MAGA crowd also booed the suggestion of supporting Oz, but the former TV personality won the GOP primary. Oz next faces Pennsylvania native John Fetterman in the November general election.
