Trump thanks supporters, revives fiery campaign rhetoric in Ohio victory rally

President-elect Donald Trump held a raucous rally in Ohio on Thursday, celebrating his victory in the US presidential election.

After thanking the crowd, Trump said, "America is going to start winning again, big league."

The president-elect's remarks Thursday night closely resembled his campaign speeches, touching upon his positions on the US economy, jobs, domestic policy, and immigration.

Trump also made a surprise announcement, confirming the appointment of retired Marine Gen. James "Mad Dog" Mattis for the role of defense secretary.

"But we’re not announcing it until Monday, so don’t tell anybody," he quipped.

Notably, Trump also appeared to take a stand against far-right, white-supremacist, nationalist groups who have latched on to his coattails: "We condemn bigotry and prejudice in all its forms. We denounce all of the hatred and forcefully reject the language of exclusion," he said to some applause and cheers.

Trump, who hasn't held a press conference in months, revived his attacks on news organizations from behind his podium.

He pointed directly to reporters covering the event inside the US Bank Arena in Cincinnati: "The people back there the extremely dishonest press. Very dishonest people. … I mean how dishonest," before going on a lengthy tirade against journalists and pundits who predicted he would lose to Democrat Hillary Clinton.

Chants of "lock her up" were heard — a common refrain lobbed at Clinton before the election.

After Trump won, he reversed an earlier promise to seek the prosecution of the former secretary of state over her use of a private email server.

The victory rally comes nearly one month after Trump's surprise win and amid a bustle of new Cabinet appointments ahead of the president-elect's inauguration on January 20.

Thursday night's rally also played out under the lingering spectre of vote recounts in Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, and Michigan. Ohio Secretary of State Jon Husted dismissed those efforts in remarks at the event, saying "as your chief elections official, I signed the document certifying President-elect Donald Trump as the winner of the state of Ohio."

The crowd erupted.

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