COLUMBUS (AP) — Former President Donald Trump is returning to central Ohio to try to boost Republican candidates and turnout ahead of the May 3 primary.
Trump will headline an evening rally at the Delaware County Fairgrounds on April 23. He’ll certainly stump for U.S. House candidate Max Miller, his pick for the 7th Congressional District, and perhaps for U.S. Senate or governor choices he’s yet to make.
News of the rally comes as early voting figures suggest turnout in the populous Midwest battleground Trump won twice by overwhelming margins may be severely depressed this year.
Columbus Capitol riot defendant: I was following Trump’s instructions
A Columbus man who acknowledges he joined the mob at the U.S. Capitol last year and ignored a variety of warning signs says he was only following orders from then-President Donald Trump.
Dustin Byron Thompson, 38, testified Wednesday during his trial in federal court in Washington.
Thompson says he took to the internet after being laid off from his exterminator job in March 2020.
In his pandemic doldrums, he says, he fell under Trump’s sway as he bought into conspiracy theories.
Thompson’s defense team is the first to argue that Trump and others were responsible for the mob’s actions.