An angry Donald Trump lashed out at the hush money case against him at a rally in Pennsylvania on Saturday, just days before becoming the first former president in US history to stand trial on criminal charges.
“Two days from now, the entire world will witness the beginning of Biden’s first trial,” Trump told a rancorous crowd of supporters.
‘I’m proud to do it for you. “Have fun watching, have fun watching,” Trump said.
The 77-year-old former president was in Schnecksville, Pennsylvania, outside Allentown, where he rambled for about an hour on a wide range of topics, from the border to insisting, “I’m popular!”
It was his last rally before the hush money trial begins in New York. Jury selection begins Monday.
Trump faces 34 felony charges of falsifying business records. Each charge carries a maximum penalty of four years in prison.
Former President Donald Trump sharply criticized the criminal case against him in New York just days before the trial began. The former president told the crowd that being impeached is a “badge of honor”
Trump insisted there was ‘absolutely nothing there’ as he ranted about the hush money case.
“On Monday in New York City I will be forced to sit completely gagged and will not be allowed to speak,” Trump said a day after saying he would testify.
The former president criticized the judge, claiming he had “Trump derangement syndrome” and argued that the case is a “blatant manipulation of the law.”
“This is by far the weakest criminal case I have seen in my 60 years,” Trump, 77, said. ‘There is absolutely nothing here. There is no misdemeanor. There is no felony, there is no federal crime.
Trump criticized the case in the midst of his presidential bid.
It is the first of four criminal cases against Trump that could be brought as he runs for president for a third time.
The hush money trial centers on about $130,000 paid to adult film star Stormy Daniels before the 2016 election. Prosecutors allege Trump falsified business records to cover up the payment and keep her silent.
According to prosecutors, the former president falsified records to cover up the $130,000 payment he made to adult film star Stormy Daniels before the 2016 election to keep her quiet about a sexual encounter with Trump a decade earlier.
Supporters who lined up for hours to attend the former president’s rally on Saturday echoed some of Trump’s own statements about the case.
Several people waiting in line told DailyMail.com that the criminal case was a “witch hunt,” orchestrated by “corrupt” Democrats and dismissed out of concern that Trump would be convicted while running for president.
“I am absolutely disgusted with our criminal justice system,” said Courtney Bracken, 46, who was at the protest with her son and also said she was at the Capitol on Jan. 6.
‘Honestly, I think Democrats are making a mockery of our criminal justice system. “I think eventually, after all the appeals, after all, President Trump will be found not guilty,” he said.
‘I think it’s just an obstacle. These are frivolous cases,” Michael Mann, 61, said at Saturday’s rally. “I don’t think he’s going to be convicted. He’s going to get out of this.”
The line of supporters waiting outside the Trump rally in Schnecksville on April 13. Hundreds of supporters waited in line for hours before the former president’s remarks at the Schnecksville Fire Hall.
Trump supporters before his campaign rally in Schnecksville, Pennsylvania, on April 13
Trump himself said Friday that he would testify in the hush money case.
‘Is a gotcha. Is a gotcha. That’s not a judgement. “That’s not a trial,” Trump also said Friday.
a new The New York Times/Siena Saturday’s poll found that a majority of registered voters believe charges that Trump falsified records related to hush money payments are very serious or somewhat serious. Only 22 percent said they were not serious at all.
The positions were divided along partisan lines. Forty-three percent of Republicans said charges related to hush money payments were not serious.
46 percent of registered voters said they believe Trump should be found guilty in the case. 36 percent said they shouldn’t. 71 percent of Republicans said he shouldn’t do it.
Trump told supporters at his rally to “have a good time watching” as he criticizes the hush money case against him that begins in New York with jury selection on Monday.
While only the hush money case so far has a trial start date set, the criminal cases against Trump could take him off the campaign trail for a significant period of time before the election.
The Trump campaign said it will make the most of days off on Wednesdays and weekends, and the former president will also continue to deliver his message with in-person and virtual events.
They argue that court appearances and accusations have proven counterproductive for Democrats and Biden and hope this case will be no different.
“Joe Biden and the Democrats’ entire strategy to defeat President Trump is to keep him out of the campaign by confining him to court,” national press secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a statement.
“President Trump will continue to fight for the truth in court and share his winning message during the election campaign,” he said.
Trump is expected to hold virtual and in-person campaign events throughout the trial schedule. His campaign claims court appearances and accusations are counterproductive for Democrats.
Pennsylvania is one of the biggest battlegrounds of 2024. Biden won the state by more than 80,000 votes in 2020 after Trump won the state by fewer than 45,000 votes in 2016.
Before Trump’s visit to the state, his supporters lined the roads around Schnecksville waving Trump flags and holding signs.
DailyMail.com observed one person holding a Biden sign on the side of the road near the rally, and another person waiting to greet the caravan a little further away holding a sign that read “Trump in Prison 2024.”
Ahead of the former president’s visit, the state’s Democratic governor, Josh Shapiro, issued a statement on behalf of the Biden campaign regarding Trump’s visit to the state, criticizing him on the abortion issue and the overturning of Roe v Wade.
“Pennsylvanians want a president who will fight for us and protect our freedom, not the chaos and extremism that Donald Trump wants to bring to our communities,” he said.