Former President Donald Trump on Thursday made his most resounding declaration about his legal troubles since getting hit with four criminal indictments, saying that his upcoming trials, both civil and criminal, are “part of the campaign” for his 2024 election bid.
Trump spoke to the press outside the New York civil business fraud trial brought by state Attorney General Letitia James, where he once again decried the criminal and civil litigation against him as “election interference,” alleging his legal tumult was “set up by Joe Biden, creepy Joe Biden.”
When asked by a reporter about how much time he is spending in court versus on the campaign trail, Trump conceded that he has kept a more concerted focus on his civil and criminal trials.
“Every single, just about, case that I’m involved in is set up by Biden. They’re doing it for election interference. And in a way, I guess you’d consider it part of the campaign,” Trump said, adding, “It’s like we’re a third-world country, a banana republic.”
Trump, who is facing two 2020 election-related indictments, one in Georgia and another in Washington, D.C., alleging he conspired to overturn that election, has maintained his belief that election fraud contributed to his loss.
“This is their new form of cheating. This is like last time; this is the new form of cheating. So far, I think it’s gone very much against him,” Trump said on Thursday, referring to his monthslong position as the likely Republican nominee, in addition to Biden’s recent record-low approval ratings.
When asked whether he plans to continue making appearances in court as he pursues the GOP nomination, Trump said, “I want to go to all of my trials,” including a civil defamation trial brought by writer E. Jean Carroll, who is suing him for denying her sexual assault claims against him while he was in office.
The civil fraud trial in New York is coming to a close after a lengthy 44 days in court. James is seeking to bar Trump and his adult children from ever doing business in the Empire State again and is seeking $370 million in fines for allegedly spending years inflating the value of his business assets and net worth in order to secure more favorable bank loans and insurance terms. The judge in the case has already issued a pretrial ruling against Trump, finding him liable for the fraud allegations.
Judge Arthur Engoron is slated to issue a final ruling in the case later this month, a decision that could decide the fate of Trump’s business empire.
Trump appeared in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday, where an appeals court is weighing his appeal of a lower court judge who ruled against his claim of presidential immunity from the election-related indictment brought by special counsel Jack Smith. If denied his request for an immunity shield, the case could work its way up to the Supreme Court.
Across his civil and criminal cases, Trump has pleaded not guilty, and he said Thursday that state officials like James are involved in a “conspiracy” to try to get Biden reelected.
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“So I just want to let you know that we have our best poll numbers. We have the best everything despite this, and maybe because of this,” Trump, who ended his press conference to a roar of cheers and applause in the courtroom halls, said.
“The people of the United States, all of those people back there, but the people of the United States really get it. They get it better than anybody else,” Trump added.
