Trump Claims ‘Election Interference’ Victimhood in First Post-Charge Speech
The 76-year-old stated to a crowd of 500 in the ballroom of his Mar-a-Lago estate, “I never thought something like this could happen in America.”
Donald Trump has claimed that he is the victim of election interference, and he has criticized New York District Attorney Alvin Bragg for bringing criminal charges against him, just hours after being arraigned.
After flying in from New York, the former US president addressed a crowd of approximately 500 people in the Mar-a-Lago estate ballroom in Florida.
In his first statement since being charged with 34 counts of falsifying business records, the 76-year-old man stated, “I never thought something like this could occur in America.”
“The only crime I’ve committed is fearlessly defending our country against those who wish to destroy it,” he said.
Then, he told the crowd that the United States is “going to hell” and that even people who are “not big fans” of his have said that this “should not be happening.”
“This false case was filed solely to disrupt the upcoming 2024 election, and it must be dismissed immediately,” he said.
Trump continued by stating that it was acceptable for Hillary Clinton to delete 33,000 emails, adding, “But nobody has done it like Joe Biden.”
He claimed that the current president “had classified documents that he took while he was a senator” – a reference to the FBI raid on his Florida estate last year – and that Mr. Biden “is not being harassed and hounded like my staff is.”
There is no case presented.
Returning to his indictment, he stated, “This is persecution, not an investigation,” but added, “Our heads are held high.”
Trump then informed the crowd that pundits and legal analysts have concluded that “there is no case here.”
On Tuesday, he reportedly spent time with a “local failed district attorney” who charged a former U.S. president for the first time in history.
“Every legal expert and commentator stated that there is no case. Almost everyone,” he stated.
He stated, about Mr. Bragg, that the “criminal is the district attorney” because he “illegally leaked massive amounts of grand jury information.”
“Hope is never lost because several DA’s office prosecutors resigned because they believed I was being treated unfairly,” he said. “What do you think? Isn’t that fantastic? I cherish them. I would like to meet them.
In the meantime, overall crime in New York increased by 30% last year – significantly more than the previous year, with felony assaults, robberies, and burglaries all increasing in enormous numbers.
The United States is a “mess.”
Trump stated that New York is “not the city I remember.”
He lashed out at Mr. Bragg and his family, stating, “This is our current situation. I know a Trump-hating judge whose daughter worked for Kamala Harris.
He went on to say that “this is where we are as a nation” and that the United States is “a mess.”
“With all of this in mind and a very dark cloud hovering over our cherished nation, I do not doubt that we will restore America’s greatness,” he said.
Trump pleaded not guilty to all 34 felony counts of falsifying business records and conspiracy for his alleged role in hush money payments to two women near the end of his 2016 presidential campaign, making him the first former US president to face criminal charges.
Tuesday, following the court hearing in New York, he stated that “nothing was done illegally.”
In a statement published on the social media platform Truth Social, Trump also accused New York District Attorney Bragg of shutting down the city and deploying “38,000 NYPD officers.”
ALSO READ: Trump Arrives in NY to Face Criminal Charges
According to prosecutors, he allegedly falsified business records “to conceal damaging information and illegal activity from American voters before and after the 2016 election.”
The Republican is accused of employing a “catch and kill” scheme to identify, purchase, and bury damaging information about him to improve his electoral prospects.
Prosecutors allege that he then went to great lengths to conceal this behavior by creating dozens of false entries in business records to conceal criminal activity, including attempts to violate state and federal election laws.
Mr. Bragg stated that the former president “repeatedly made false statements on New York business records” and also caused others to make false statements.
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