During a gathering of his religious supporters, former President Donald Trump made a passionate speech, stating that he is being indicted on their behalf and vowed to reform the “weaponized” Department of Justice. Trump addressed the audience at the Faith and Freedom Coalition gala in Washington DC on Saturday night, expressing his frustration with the two ongoing indictments he faces as he pursues a return to the White House in 2024.
Trump declared that he views each new indictment against him as a “badge of honor,” asserting that he is being targeted because of the love he holds for the country and the millions of people who support him. He characterized the ongoing legal proceedings against him as a continuation of the unprecedented witch hunt he believes he has been subjected to. Trump accused his opponents of attempting to interfere with future elections and using any means necessary to demean and insult him.
In April, Trump was indicted by the Manhattan District Attorney’s office on 34 felony counts related to alleged falsification of business records and hush-money payments made before the 2016 election. More recently, he faced federal indictment in Florida for mishandling classified documents seized by the FBI from his Mar-a-Lago estate in August. Trump vehemently maintained his innocence in both cases, dismissing the indictments as part of a politically motivated witch hunt targeting him as the leading Republican candidate for president.
If elected, Trump pledged to overhaul the Department of Justice and instructed it to investigate what he referred to as “radical” district attorneys across the country, labeling them as “racists in reverse.” The crowd responded with chants of “USA” as Trump proudly declared, “I’m probably the only person in history who was indicted, and my numbers went up.”
Trump argued that the efforts against him were ultimately an attack on his supporters, rather than just himself, and emphasized his determination to protect their freedom of speech. He criticized President Joe Biden, referring to him as “the most corrupt president in the history of our country,” citing allegations made by a whistleblower that Biden’s son, Hunter Biden, had leveraged his father’s political position for personal gain in a multimillion-dollar business deal with China.