On Tuesday, a subdued former President Donald Trump lashed out at New York prosecutor Alvin Bragg for bringing criminal charges against him, declaring himself the victim of election meddling without providing evidence.
“I never thought anything like this could happen in America,” Trump told supporters gathered at his Palm Beach, Florida, estate, Mar-a-Lago. “The only crime I’ve committed is fearlessly defending our country against those who seek to destroy it.”
Earlier, in a Manhattan court, Trump pleaded not guilty to 34 felony counts of falsifying business records, as prosecutors accused him of “orchestrating payments to two women before the 2016 election to suppress publication of their sexual encounters with him.”
Trump, who is running for the Republican presidential nomination in 2024, gave a 25-minute speech in Florida on Tuesday night, compared to his rally speeches, which can sometimes last two hours.
Despite his tirade against prosecutors, he did not call for new protests from his followers. And, while he is expected to return to the campaign trail soon, he provided no specifics.
Trump, 76, dug deep into his grievances to declare himself hounded by political opponents who are using the legal system against him to prevent him from retaking the presidency in 2024.
Trump claimed that Manhattan District Attorney Bragg was out to get him “even before he knew anything about me.” He called the case’s judge, Juan Merchan, a “Trump-hating judge.” However, he provided no evidence to back up his claim that they were acting to undermine his White House bid.
ATTACKS LEGAL CASES
Trump fired new shots at all of the legal cases against him, including the handling of classified documents taken to Mar-a-Lago when Trump left the White House in early 2021, the investigation into the Jan. 6, 2021, assault on the United States Capitol, and the election interference case he is facing in Georgia from the 2020 election.
Trump was particularly concerned about the case of the document being investigated by special counsel Jack Smith, whom he repeatedly referred to as a “lunatic.”
He described the cases as “massive election interference on a scale never seen” in an attempt to derail his third presidential bid.
Among those gathered before him in a gilt-edged ballroom at Mar-a-Lago were Republican lawmakers Marjorie Taylor Greene and Matt Gaetz, long-time operative Roger Stone, pillow maker Mike Lindell, former US ambassador to Germany Richard Grenell, and Trump sons Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump.
Melania Trump was not seen in the ballroom.
SHOW OF SUPPORT
Among the hundreds was Nathan Mitchell, 18, the incoming president of the College Republicans club at Florida Atlantic University.
He said he was there to support a man who represents “America’s best chance to become great again.”
Mitchell said of Trump’s accusations, “It humiliates us all in front of the world.”
Alex Gonzalez, 45, who runs a security company in Palm Beach and was dressed in a black leather biker vest with a “Born to Ride” patch above the number 45, said he was there to show the former president that the people believe in him.
The indictment, Gonzalez said, “is all a charade, man, it’s all a witch hunt.” “Trump should not be held above the law; if he does something wrong, he should face the same consequences as everyone else. But this is nonsense, and everyone knows it.”
