Indictments 'a great badge of courage' – Trump
Former US president Donald Trump, who is hoping to return to the Oval Office after the 2024 elections, has said he views the two indictments against him as a personal honor. The Republican firebrand accused the political left of instigating the legal proceedings against him, which he previously dismissed as a “witch hunt.”
Addressing a Faith and Freedom Coalition event in Washington on Saturday, Trump said: “Every time the radical left Democrats, Marxist, communists and fascists indict me, I consider it a great badge of courage.”
He went on to claim he was “being indicted for you,” estimating the number of his supporters at more than 200 million out of the 336 million people living in the US.
Earlier this month, Trump was indicted on 37 criminal charges, related to him allegedly retaining classified defense documents and showing them to other people.
Trump became the first former US president to face federal indictment, and some of the charges brought against him carry a maximum sentence of 20 years.
On June 13, Trump pleaded not guilty, insisting that the indictment was nothing but a “Stalinist” attempt by President Joe Biden to sideline his leading political rival.
Some fellow Republicans, too, accused the government of double standards, citing the alleged mishandling of classified documents by former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and supposed corruption involving Joe Biden’s son, Hunter.
The Biden administration, in turn, strongly denied that the incumbent president had “weaponized” the government to prosecute a political competitor.
A poll by the Center for American Political Studies at Harvard (CAPS) indicated last week that more than half of Americans believe that Trump should be pardoned if he is ever convicted and sent to jail.
Back in April, the former president was indicted on state criminal charges in New York City over accusations that he had falsified his business records.
The case dates back to the alleged payment of hush money to adult film actress Stormy Daniels during the 2016 presidential campaign.
