Donald Trump claimed on Saturday to be the victim of a “witch hunt” during his first public speech since his indictment the day before by federal justice, unprecedented for a former American president and with uncertain consequences on the Republican primary for 2024 .
At two Republican meetings in the southeastern United States, he felt he was the target of lawsuits because of his candidacy for a second term in the White House.
“That’s why they do it, if I wasn’t [candidat]there would be no witch hunt, there would be no indictment,” he argued to activists gathered in Columbus, Georgia.
The former real estate magnate is the subject of 37 charges for having, when he left the White House, took thousands of documents, some of them confidential, when he should have entrusted them to the National Archives , and for subsequently refusing to return most of it despite reminders from the FBI.
This indictment, the second in two months after a first by the justice of the State of New York in April for accounting fraud, paves the way for a 2024 presidential election like no other, where the incumbent Democratic President’s Justice Department is suing the favorite of the Republican primary.
Mr. Trump, who repeats that he is the victim of a political cabal, took part in two Republican conventions in the southeastern United States on Saturday, first in Georgia and then in North Carolina, getting angry at this which he called an unfair legal attack on him.
“You’re dealing with raving lunatics,” the former president said in Greensboro, North Carolina.
“The baseless indictment against me by the Biden government’s instrumentalized ministry of injustice will rank among the most horrific abuses of power in our country’s history,” he said.
Earlier, in Columbus, Georgia, Mr. Trump told the crowd that he was the target of lawsuits because of his bid for a second term in the White House.
Both rallies took place just three days before his appearance in federal court in Miami. He is accused of endangering the national security of the United States by keeping confidential documents, including military and nuclear secrets, when he left the White House.
The indictment, released on Friday, has 37 counts, including “unlawful withholding of national security information”, “obstructing justice” and “false testimony”.
Donald Trump has already reacted to the news of his indictment through a series of posts on his Truth Social network as well as in a video statement posted on Twitter, calling the special prosecutor in charge of the investigation, Jack Smith, “deranged” and denouncing electoral interference supposedly orchestrated by his rival Joe Biden.
The latter indicated that he had “not spoken” to his Minister of Justice on this subject.
“They are attacking me because we are again ahead of Biden in the polls, by a lot,” assured Donald Trump, despite the fact that opinion polls do not show a clear advantage at this stage.
The Republican camp has so far generally closed ranks around Mr. Trump.
Republican House Leader Kevin McCarthy, whose relationship with the tumultuous billionaire has not always been good, said the former president’s indictment marked a “dark day” for the United States. United.
And Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, his main opponent for the Republican nomination, joined in the denunciations of a supposedly “instrumentalized” Department of Justice.