Harry Fletcher
Jun 14, 2023
content.jwplatform.com
Donald Trump spoke to supporters at Bedminster, New Jersey after his arraignment on Tuesday (June 13) – and, as ever, he had an awful lot to say for himself.
Earlier in the day the former president was arraigned on 37 felony counts relating to his handling classified documents after leaving the presidency in 2021.
He appeared before a gathering of his supporters for a rambling speech lasting roughly 30 minutes and he denounced his latest criminal indictment with a series of increasingly odd claims.
These are the six strangest things Trump said during his post-federal arraignment speech.
Claiming he kept documents because boxes contained his ‘shirts and shoes’
\u201cTrump lies that the images in the indictment are "staged photos." He claims the boxes had "shirts and shoes" in them (they also had highly classified documents, which is the problem!)\u201d— Aaron Rupar (@Aaron Rupar) 1686703463
“Many people have asked me why I had these boxes, why did you want them?” Trump said during the most significant moment of the speech, where he attempted to explain why he stashed classified documents in his toilet.
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“The answer, in addition to having every right under the Presidential Records Act, is that these boxes were containing all types of personal belongings — many, many things, shirts and shoes, everything.”
‘Other presidents have done it’
\u201cTrump vows that if he wins the presidency, he will appoint a special prosecutor to "go after Biden" and "the entire Biden crime family."\n\n"I will totally obliterate the deep state," Trump adds. "I am the only one who can save this nation."\u201d— Aaron Rupar (@Aaron Rupar) 1686704006
Trump attempted to claim that he was only doing the same as other presidents had done, saying that he had been accused of “possessing my own presidential papers, which just about every other president has done”.
In reality, the Presidential Records Act states that all documents belong to the federal government.
Suggesting indicting him makes America fascist
“Today we witnessed the most evil and heinous abuse of power in the history of our country,” he said. “It’s a political persecution like something straight out of a fascist or communist nation.”
Calling Biden “the most corrupt president in history”
“I will appoint a real special prosecutor to go after the most corrupt president in the history of the United States: Joe Biden and the entire Biden family,” Trump stated. “And all others involved with the destruction of our elections, our borders and our country ourself. They’re destroying our country.”
“Thugs, misfits and Marxists”
Trump, the man who made totally bogus claims an election had been stolen from him when he lost, stood up there with a straight face and said Biden was a threat to democracy in the US.
He said Biden “will forever be remembered as not only the most corrupt president in the history of our country, but perhaps even more importantly, the president who together with a band of his closest thugs, misfits and Marxists tried to destroy American democracy”.
Taking aim at “the deep state”
“When I’m re-elected, and we will get re-elected… I will totally obliterate the deep state,” he said. “We will obliterate the deep state and we know who they are. On November 5 2024, justice will be done.”
He added: “They want to take away my freedoms because I will never let them take away your freedoms. It’s very simple. They want to silence me because I will never let them silence you.
“I am the only one who can save this nation because you know they’re not coming after me they’re coming after you. I just happen to be standing in their way and I will never be moving.”
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