(Washington) Republican Donald Trump, candidate for the American presidential election in November and surrounded by legal troubles, compared himself on Saturday to a “modern-day Mandela”, provoking strong criticism from the Biden camp.
Over the past year, the former president has been indicted in four criminal cases, all of which put him at risk of prison.
Among other things, he is accused of having orchestrated questionable payments to a pornographic film star – a case which will be judged from April 15.
Donald Trump regularly attacks the judge who will preside over this trial via inflammatory publications on social networks. Magistrate Juan Merchan, in return, imposed restrictions on his speech.
On Saturday, the Republican billionaire mentioned these speech bans in a very long publication on his Truth Social network, accusing the judge of “violating the law and the Constitution, at the same time”.
“If this completely partisan charlatan wants to put me in jail for telling the most obvious truth, I will gladly become a modern-day Nelson Mandela — that would be a great honor,” he said, referring to the man who ended the apartheid regime in South Africa in the 1990s after being a prisoner for 27 years.
A few days earlier, Donald Trump had already republished a fake audience sketch where he is seen sitting… right next to Jesus Christ.
So many messages mocked by the team of Democratic President Joe Biden, who will face Donald Trump in the presidential election.
“Imagine being so self-centered that you compare yourself to Jesus Christ and Nelson Mandela in the space of just over a week,” scoffed a spokeswoman, Jasmine Harris, in a statement.
In separate cases, Donald Trump is also accused of trying to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election, and of negligent handling of state secrets.
Big fundraising evening
Donald Trump is organizing a gigantic fundraising evening in Florida on Saturday, a new crucial episode in the war on big donations between the Republican and Joe Biden in the race for the White House.
In American electoral life, money, far from being a taboo, is a source of pride for the side that amasses the most. It is also an essential windfall: 2024 promises to be the most expensive electoral cycle in the country’s history.
The two candidates have been engaged in this war for millions for months, regularly sharing laudatory press releases on the state of their finances.
This competition of muscles accelerated with the holding of a large reception in New York at the end of March, during which Democratic President Joe Biden raised $25 million, “a record” according to his campaign team.
On Saturday, its tempestuous rival hopes to collect almost twice as much – between 43 and 50 million dollars, according to American media.
PHOTO SETH WENIG, ASSOCIATED PRESS
John Paulson and Donald Trump and November 2019
The former Republican president will participate in a fundraising evening organized by billionaire John Paulson, one of the rare financiers to have profited from the 2008-2009 financial crisis thanks to his bets on the collapse of the real estate market.
The event is held in Palm Beach, not far from Donald Trump’s luxurious residence, Mar-a-Lago.
US$814,600
Guests include businessman Robert Bigelow, who made his fortune in the hotel business before running an aerospace research company, and John Catsimatidis, owner of a major grocery store chain.
Both men are known to be major donors to the Republican Party.
Some former rivals of Donald Trump in the Republican primaries will also be present: Tim Scott, Vivek Ramaswamy, Doug Burgum… These men have since completely embraced the candidacy of the septuagenarian and hope to find a place in a hypothetical Trump 2.0 administration.
According to the Washington PostDonald Trump’s seat at the table will be charged… US$814,600.
These crazy sums are used to finance candidates’ travel, to pay their teams, to commission surveys or, and perhaps above all, to pay for television advertisements.
Joe Biden, who likes to portray himself as a hero of the middle class, was quick to criticize the event organized by his Republican opponent in a post on social networks on Saturday.
“Donald Trump is organizing a fundraiser with a group of financial billionaires who want to slash Social Security and Medicare while giving themselves tax cuts,” he said. he accuses.
The Democrat currently has better campaign coffers than Donald Trump, criminally charged four times, who spends part of the money collected from his supporters on legal fees.
His team relishes this financial advantage, even calling out “broke Don” in a recent email about the billionaire, himself a big fan of cruel nicknames.