The former US President describes the investigations in New York, like other investigations against him before, as a “witch hunt”. Party colleagues help him.
Former US President Donald Trump has reacted with outrage at the indictment against him in New York. “This is political persecution and electoral interference at the highest level in history,” said last night (local time) in a written statement from the Republican, who wants to run again as his party’s presidential candidate in the 2024 election.
A so-called grand jury in New York had previously voted to indict Trump in connection with hush money payments to a porn actress. That was confirmed by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg. The exact charges and details are still unclear. Never before in US history has an ex-president been charged with a crime.
Trump sees the indictment as an “attack on our country”. It is also an attack on the “once” free elections, the US is now a “Third World country” and a nation in decline, wrote the Republican on the network and Twitter replacement Truth Social he co-founded. In his post, several words were in capital letters, the word “accused” was misspelled.
Trump and his supporters are calling for donations
According to media reports, immediately after the indictment against him, ex-US President Donald Trump and his supporters called for donations. “The radical left (…) has accused me of a disgusting witch hunt,” it says in emails that were sent on Thursday evening (local time). However, this will fall back on Democratic incumbent Joe Biden. The country is experiencing the darkest chapter in its history.
“With your support, we will write the next great chapter in US history – and 2024 will forever be remembered as the year we saved our republic.” The addressees are asked for donations of 24 dollars (around 22 euros) or more. There is a similar call on Trump’s campaign website on the Internet. On the conservative Fox News channel, Republican US Senator Lindsey Graham called for the ex-president to be given money to fight the lawsuit. “It’s literally legal voodoo,” he said.
Outrage among party friends
Former US Vice President Mike Pence also sharply criticized the indictment. “I think it’s a scandal,” Pence told CNN. “This will only serve to further divide this country.” The unprecedented indictment of a former US president in a campaign finance matter is scandalous, said Pence, who served as Trump’s deputy from 2017 to 2021. Millions of Americans are under the impression that this is nothing more than a political indictment.
For a Manhattan prosecutor to target a particular American in the middle of an election campaign goes against the idea of the majority of Americans who believe in justice and equal treatment before the law. The actions of the Manhattan Attorney’s Office send a terrible message about the American justice system. No one is above the law, not even ex-presidents, Pence stressed. But in this case, which involves campaign financing, this unprecedented charge should never have come about. “This is a bad decision by a political prosecutor.”
Other Republicans responded on Twitter outraged and portrayed the charges as an attack on democracy. “This fraud by the New York charges against President Donald Trump is one of the clearest examples of how extremist Democrats use government responsibility as a weapon to attack their political opponents.” , wrote House Republican leader Steve Scalise, for example.
Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene tweeted, “I stand with Trump!!!” And Trump’s son Donald Trump Junior wrote: “This is not just the far left weaponizing the government to target their political enemies, but weaponizing the government to meddle in the 2024 election, to stop Trump. The only solution is to shove it down their throats and bring him back to the White House!!! #MAGA”
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis has declined to support a possible extradition request. “When the legal system is used as a weapon to advance a political agenda, the rule of law is turned on its head,” the prominent US Republican also wrote on Twitter. DeSantis is Trump’s internal competitor. DeSantis is expected to run as the presidential candidate in the November 2024 election.
Meanwhile, Republican Speaker of the US House of Representatives Kevin McCarthy attacked Attorney Bragg. “While he routinely releases violent criminals to terrorize the public, he has used our sacred legal system against President Donald Trump,” he wrote on Twitter. McCarthy is considered a Trump ally.
Shortly before his election as president in 2016, Trump had paid hush money to the porn actress – this could conflict with campaign finance rules. A 23-member grand jury will decide whether to press charges after prosecutors have presented evidence. Trump had described the investigation in New York, like other investigations against him before, as a “witch hunt”.
Trump: “Democrats lied, cheated and stole”
Trump also spoke of this in his reaction to the historical development in New York. He accused the Democrats of trying to harm him politically since his first presidential bid for the 2016 election and of harassing him with various investigations during his tenure. “The Democrats have lied, cheated and stolen in their obsession to ‘get’ Trump, but now they have done the unthinkable – impeach a completely innocent person in an act of blatant electoral interference,” Trump said. “This has never happened in the history of our country.”
Weaponizing the American judicial system to crack down on a political opponent who happens to be the leading Republican candidate for president has never happened before, Trump wrote, predicting it would backfire on President Joe Biden and his Democrats.
Democrat Adam Schiff called the charges “unprecedented.” “But that also applies to the illegal behavior in which Trump was involved,” wrote the US MP on Twitter on Thursday (local time). “The rich and powerful” must also be held accountable – even if they hold high office. Anything else is not democracy. Schiff led the prosecution team in Trump’s first impeachment trial. Trump regularly insults the Democrat.
Source: Stern
I have been working in the news industry for over 6 years, first as a reporter and now as an editor. I have covered politics extensively, and my work has appeared in major newspapers and online news outlets around the world. In addition to my writing, I also contribute regularly to 24 Hours World.
