Donald Trump speaks about possible indictment, Ron DeSantis at 2024 campaign rally

I want to bring in CBS News.com White House and Politics reporter, Katherine Watson, to talk about this for us. You covered the rally in Waco. So how much of Trump's remarks were geared towards his 2024 bid versus commenting on his past and the investigations that he's involved in, or perhaps that's all part of a big bundle? Well, thank you so much for having me. It was certainly a combination, and Trump even harnessed those allegations in the 2020 election as a tool for his 2024 bid. He said they're not coming after me, they're coming after you, and called the 2020 election rigged. He claimed he won the 2020 election by a lot more than the 2016 election, which clearly isn't accurate.

And then he predicted that he will be the next president of the United States. So, yes, kind of as he said, it is all sort of rolled into one thing for him. So at the beginning of the rally, he played a video showing his supporters attacking the Capitol, and there was sort of a rendition of the national anthem being played. They started, let me just sort of get this straight, attacking the Capitol, national anthem. I'm sort of curious about what the feeling was within the crowd. How did the crowd react to this? Well, it was very quiet as this video was playing. Generally, his supporters were really watching with rapt attention.

Now, this was a video that was made in support of people in prison because of their roles on January 6th. And the video played footage, like you said, of the Capitol assault to the words, the bombs bursting in air. And his supporters did share the end of the video when Trump and the American flag came on screen. The campaign had formerly kind of distanced themselves from the creation of this video, saying that they had nothing to do with it. But now it was played to kick off his first 2024 campaign rally. So, obviously, now the campaign and Trump himself clearly are really embracing it. And, you know, one of the things that he's kind of been accused of when he's been commenting on the Manhattan investigation is using the kind of language that resulted in the attack on the Capitol.

He's very active on social media, ripping the Manhattan DA, Alvin Bragg's investigation. What did he say in front of the crowd in Waco? Sure. Well, Trump made it very clear he thinks the Manhattan grand jury case is political. He called it BS and claimed local and state authorities are carrying out the Department of Justice's bidding. And he suggested that authorities are trying to prosecute him because of his poll numbers, because they don't want to win, want him to win. Now, you know, in recent days, President Trump has been polling, in some polls at least, a little bit more strongly than he has before compared to DeSantis and other candidates. He still, you know, has a bit of a lead, so that was the argument he was making.

And former President Trump claimed he, you know, never slept with adult film star Stormy Daniels, saying she wouldn't be the one and there is no one. He praised his wife Melania. Basically, he was saying he absolutely never had an affair. But if he did, he wouldn't pick Daniels. And our Trump supporters I spoke with in Waco also called the pro political and some called for Bragg's arrest. He also went after Florida governor Ron DeSantis. Did he did he use his tried and true nickname Ron DeSantis? Disseptimonious, I think that hasn't been going over so well in these crowds.

It's a bit of a long word, really. But yeah, he did, you know, kind of use those nicknames. But really what he was focusing on is loyalty. Loyalty is a big thing for Trump that is loyalty towards him. It's not necessarily always a one or two way street. But Trump endorsed DeSantis in his successful bid for governor. And Trump made it clear on Saturday that he sees DeSantis running as or possibly running, I should say, he has not announced as a betrayal of him.

So Trump went after DeSantis on his record over COVID, not on the number of deaths in Florida, but because Florida did have some restrictions in the very beginning of the pandemic. Trump said crime in Florida is not good. And he called DeSantis a disciple of Paul Ryan, which is kind of a kiss of death among Trump supporters. Many of them see Paul Ryan as a Republican in name only or a rhino. I spoke with Trump supporters in Waco on the back and forth between Trump and DeSantis. And everyone I spoke with said they really liked DeSantis, but they want him to hold off on any bid for president until after Trump has won a second term. Interesting.

Wow. All right, Catherine, thank you. Thank you.

Trump Rally, Politics, Elections, CBS News, U.S.