Donald Trump addressed his supporters on Saturday in Georgia for his first public speech since his indictment the day before by federal justice, unprecedented for a former American president and whose consequences on the Republican primary for 2024 are uncertain.
The ex-real estate magnate is the target 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 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 New York State justice in April for accounting fraud, paves the way for a 2024 presidential election like no other, where the outgoing Democratic president’s Justice Department is suing the favorite of the Republican primary.
Donald Trump, who repeats that he is the victim of a political cabal, must also speak on Saturday at another Republican convention in North Carolina.
In Columbus, Georgia, Mr Trump lambasted Joe Biden and the Justice Department, railing against what he described as a “false indictment”. To the crowd gathered to listen to him, he said he was being prosecuted for running for a second term in the White House.
“That’s why they do it, if I weren’t (candidate for a new presidential term, editor’s note), there would be no witch hunt, there would be no indictment “, he told his supporters.
Both rallies come 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.
” Disturbs “
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 announcement of his indictment via 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, “disturbed”. and denouncing election interference supposedly orchestrated by his rival Joe Biden.
The latter indicated that he had “not spoken” to his secretary 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 the governor of Florida, Ron DeSantis, his main opponent for the Republican nomination, joined in the denunciations of a supposedly “instrumentalized” Department of Justice.