Former President Donald Trump on Saturday accused Democrats of interfering with the 2024 presidential election and called the two indictments he received a “great badge of courage” during a speech at the Faith and Freedom Coalition’s event in Washington.
Trump claimed that authorities are investigating and charging him in an attempt to derail his presidential run in 2024. He said he was targeted because of his strong poll numbers and lead over the Democratic Party’s frontrunner, President Joe Biden.
Trump said Biden used law enforcement to intervene in elections, calling it “the greatest abuse of power” in American history.
“Every time the radical left Democrats, Marxists, Communists, and fascists indict me, I consider it a great badge of courage,” he told supporters.
Trump claimed the interference was a far greater scandal than Watergate.
Two weeks ago, the former president was charged with 37 felony counts related to his alleged mishandling of classified documents. And early this year, he was also charged with 34 felony counts of falsifying business records in a Manhattan criminal court. Trump has pleaded not guilty in both unprecedented cases.
Additional charges could be filed against the former president as a result of ongoing investigations in Georgia and Washington, both of which are related to Trump’s challenge of the 2020 election results.
Trump is the current frontrunner for the Republican nomination. And he holds a slight lead over Biden, according to the RealClear Politics average.
Trump asserted that prosecutors did not pursue other presidents who kept documents and tapes, including former President Bill Clinton.
“They went after me. They didn’t go after anyone else. And they went after me criminally,” Trump said, noting, however, that his poll numbers have improved following the criminal charges.
According to a Quinnipiac poll on June 21, 62 percent of registered voters believed that the recent indictment against the former president for improper handling of classified materials was primarily politically motivated.
Hunter Biden and China
During the event, Trump also targeted the business dealings of the Biden family, citing recent text messages from the president’s son, Hunter Biden.
According to an Internal Revenue Service (IRS) whistleblower, Hunter Biden sent a WhatsApp message to a Chinese businessman during a dispute saying he was “sitting here with my father” and threatened him to follow his “direction.”
House Republicans are currently investigating allegations of influence peddling involving the Biden family’s multimillion-dollar dealings with foreign interests.
Trump had previously announced that, if elected, he would appoint a special prosecutor to investigate Biden and his family, accusing them of corruption.
That’s probably why Biden’s not complaining about the fact that China is building military bases in Cuba, Trump remarked at the event.
He stated that if elected, he would give China 48 hours to withdraw its military presence in Cuba.
“Never forget, our enemies want to stop me because I’m the only one who can stop them,” Trump said.
He also stated that if elected, he would “obliterate” the deep state and end the war in Ukraine in 24 hours. In addition, he promised to keep men out of women’s restrooms and stop taxpayer funding for gender transitions.
Anniversary of Dobbs Decision
Trump’s speech at the 12th annual Faith and Freedom Coalition Conference also coincided with the first anniversary of the Supreme Court’s landmark decision that overturned the abortion ruling Roe v. Wade.
The former president gave himself credit for the Supreme Court’s Dobbs ruling. During his presidency, Trump nominated Justices Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh, and Amy Coney Barrett, all of whom voted to overturn Roe v. Wade.
‘I’m proud to be the most pro-life president in American history,” Trump said at the event.
He referred to Democrats and pro-abortion activists as “radical people” who are “in trouble with the Lord.”
On June 24, 2022, the Supreme Court, in a 6-3 ruling, upheld a Mississippi law that prohibits abortion beyond 15 weeks of pregnancy, overturning 50-year old Roe v. Wade case. The decision has restored the ability of the states to regulate abortion as they see fit.
The Faith and Freedom Coalition event is billed as one of the largest gatherings of Christian conservative activists advocating for a pro-family majority. Nearly 3,000 activists attended the conference, which took place from June 22 to 24.
Other GOP Candidates
This year’s meeting featured several other 2024 Republican presidential candidates, including Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, former Vice President Mike Pence, former U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Nikki Haley, Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.), former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy, former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson, and radio host Larry Elder.
Cheers and applause regularly interrupted Trump’s more than an hour-long campaign-style speech.
At one point, Trump asked whether the other candidates had received the same warm reception.
“Actually, I saw one who was booed off the stage,” Trump joked, referring to Christie.
Christie was booed during his speech at the event on Friday after criticizing Trump.
“You can boo all you want,” Christie responded to the crowd.
“Our faith teaches us that people have to take responsibility for what they do. People have to stand up and take accountability for what they do, and I cannot stand by,” Christie said.
He also stated that he was motivated to run because Trump had failed the country by refusing to accept responsibility for his mistakes.
During his speech, Trump focused on Democrats and Biden while avoiding attacks on other Republican candidates, including his key rival Desantis.
Janice Hisle contributed to this report.
From The Epoch Times