Former President Donald Trump began his post-arraignment remarks at Mar-a-Lago on Tuesday evening by insisting that the “only crime” he committed was defending the country.
“God bless you all. I never thought something like this could happen in America,” he said, adding that the only crime he committed was trying to “defend our country from those who seek to destroy it.”
The former president’s speech came just hours after his charged with 34 felony charges related to payments made to porn star Stormy Daniels to keep her from talking about an alleged affair one month before the 2016 presidential election. Earlier Tuesday in New York City, State Supreme Court Justice Juan Merchan, who oversees the case, advised the former president to suppress “violence or civil unrest” follow the rules.
Trump’s speech at the Mar-a-Lago country club in Palm Beach, Florida, began in a familiar fashion as he stuck to old points, riffing on baseless claims he’s repeated over the past few years, including the 2020 presidential election. .the election was “stolen” from the people and the FBI raided Mar-a-Lago to retrieve illegal classified documents.
He briefly criticized Democrats, including President Joe Biden, but mostly focused on prosecutors, investigators and judges involved in legal issues, including New York Attorney General Letitia James, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg and special counsel Jack Smith.
At one point in the speech, Trump claimed that the US was heading for “all-out nuclear World War III” under the Biden administration, claiming without evidence that “we’re not that far off.”
The speech lasted 25 minutes – much shorter than a typical speech. Several news networks, including CNN, NBC News and the Washington Post’s live broadcast, cut from Trump’s speech before it ended.