WACO, Texas (AP) – Faced with potential indictment, Donald Trump took a defiant stance at a public rally in Waco, disparaging prosecutors investigating him and predicting vindication as he rallied supporters in a city made famous by deadly resistance to law enforcement.
With his hand over his heart, Trump stood at attention when the rally opened with a song called “Justice for All” performed by a choir of people imprisoned for their role in the January 6 insurrection at the US Capitol. Some footage of the protest was shown on a large screen displayed at the rally site as a choir sang the national anthem and a recording of Trump reciting the Pledge of Allegiance.
The extraordinary display opened Trump’s first public rally of the Republican presidential campaign in 2024. He then launched a fiery speech and made the probe, including a New York grand jury investigation, a political attack on him and his followers.
“You will be vindicated and proud,” Trump said, “The thugs and criminals who undermined our justice system will be defeated, discredited and humiliated.”
Trump’s event on the airport grounds in Waco is part of a broader effort by the former president to use potential indictments as leverage to keep supporters of his status as the GOP frontrunner in what is expected to be a crowded primary. It comes a day after Trump raised the bar that he was the first former president in US history to face criminal charges.
Trump has pleaded not guilty in a Manhattan investigation into a payment he made during the 2016 election to porn star Stormy Daniels to keep her from going public about a sexual encounter she said she had with Trump years earlier. The grand jury hearing the case is expected to meet again on Monday.
Trump said the Manhattan district attorney was investigating him “for something that was not a crime, not a mistake, not an affair.”
Some of Trump’s recent rhetoric, including at rallies, has echoed the language used before the Capitol uprising by masses of supporters seeking to stop the transfer of power to Democrat Joe Biden, who won the presidential election.
Trump announced on Saturday that “the enemy is desperate to stop us” and that “our enemy has done everything possible to crush our spirit and destroy our will.”
He added: “But he failed. He only made us stronger. And 2024 is the last war, it will be the biggest. You put me back in the White House, his reign will end and America will be a free country again.
Brandon Bell via Getty Images
Trump could be indicted soon by a Manhattan grand jury investigating a $130,000 payment made by Trump’s longtime lawyer and fixer, Michael Cohen, while Trump was on the 2016 presidential campaign.
Trump later reimbursed Cohen and his company listed the reimbursement as legal fees. Cohen has served time in prison after pleading guilty to campaign finance charges and lying to Congress, among other crimes.
Trump’s eyebrow-raising choice of Waco for his first rally comes amid the 30th anniversary of a 51-day standoff and deadly siege between US law enforcement and the Branch Davidians that left more than 80 members of the religious cult and four federal agents dead and has become a touchstone for right-wing extremists and militia groups.
The Trump campaign insisted that the location and timing of the event had nothing to do with the siege or the anniversary of Waco. The spokeswoman said the site, 17 miles from the Branch Davidian compound, was chosen because it is close to four of the country’s largest metropolitan areas – Dallas/Fort Worth, Houston, Austin and San Antonio – and has the infrastructure to handle large enough. a lot of people.
Texas Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick said before the arrival of Trump that people have suggested Waco as a venue. Any suggestion that Trump chose the city for his anniversary is “fake news. I’m voting for Waco!” to the crowd.
Trump made no direct reference in his speech to the history of Waco, telling the crowd that he had told Patrick he wanted to hold the rally in a place with overwhelming support, not “one of the 50-50 areas,” and told Patrick, “Come on straight to the heart of it.”
At some point, Trump criticized Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, who is expected to run for president and is seen as the strongest potential challenger for the GOP nomination. Trump called out his once-disloyal ally and said he was “down like a rock.”
Audience members held red and white signs provided by the campaign that said “Witch Hunt,” “Trump 2024” and “I stand with Trump.”
Hours before Trump’s arrival, hundreds of supporters began trickling into the airport through vendors selling merchandise including Trump flags, bumper stickers and action figures.
Among them was Eugene Torres, 41, who said he was not surprised by the prospect that Trump could be impeached.
“It’s just another political attack for him to not run and win this race again,” said Torres, who is from Corpus Christi on the Texas coast.
Alan Kregel, 56, traveled with his wife from Dallas to see Trump in person for the first time. While he voted for Trump in 2016 and 2020, he said he felt the former president’s “methods and vocabulary” often undermined his policies. But now, two years out of office, he says he supports Trump more than ever.
“They’re innocent people, they’re just wronged,” Kregel said, saying the indictment would help Trump win in 2024.
Trump has spent weeks now fighting the New York investigation and in a post on his social media site on Friday, warned of “the potential for death and destruction in false accusations” if he is charged with a crime.
In a move that appears designed to avoid an official announcement, he claimed last Saturday that he would be arrested on Tuesday. When that didn’t happen, Trump has used the days since to try to shape public perception – echoing strategies he has used before, including during Robert Mueller’s special Russia investigation.
Trump has also repeatedly incited violence, called on his supporters to protest, and used increasingly racist and dehumanizing rhetoric as he launched personal attacks on Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg.
On Friday, a powdered substance was found with a threatening letter in the mail room at Bragg’s office, authorities said. Officials later determined that the substance was harmless.
Even before the threatening letter was sent to Bragg’s office, Democrats warned that Trump’s remarks had the potential to lead to violence.
“The rhetoric of the former president who has been impeached twice is reckless, reprehensible and irresponsible. It is dangerous, and if it continues, it will kill people,” said House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries of New York.
In addition to the Manhattan case, Trump also faces an investigation in Georgia over an attempt to overturn the results of the 2020 election as well as a federal investigation into the handling of classified documents and possible obstruction, as well as an attempt on January 6. .
Price reported from New York. Associated Press writers Paul Weber in Waco, Texas, Michael R. Sisak in New York and Sagar Meghani in Washington contributed to this report.