(GoRealNewsNow.com) – Following his federal indictment and amid demands for him to drop out of the presidential race, former President Donald Trump promised his supporters that he would not withdraw from his run for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination.
Trump faces 37 criminal charges related to his supposed mishandling of classified information. He made this statement over the weekend during visits to Republican state conventions in Georgia and North Carolina.
“I’ll never leave,” Trump stated in an interview with a Politico journalist on his airplane. He added, “If I was going to quit, I would’ve done it before the first race in 2016. That one was tough. In theory, it seemed impossible.”
“I didn’t do anything wrong,” Trump insisted.
His visits to Georgia and North Carolina were his first since he announced the indictment on his Truth Social media platform Thursday night.
Walt Nauta, a Trump aide, was also charged in the indictment released on Friday. Even some Republicans and Trump supporters who are typically understanding labeled the indictment “very incriminating.”
Trump, however, dismissed the indictment as “absurd” and “unfounded” and used his Saturday speeches to criticize special counsel Jack Smith as “crazy” and “an obvious Trump detractor,” as per news reports. According to a New York Times report, he described the Department of Justice as a group of people in dire need of reorganization.
Using dramatic language, he told supporters in Columbus, Georgia, that “this is the final battle.” He tried to make the indictment relatable to his supporters by telling them, “In the end, they’re not after me, they’re after you.”
In his conversation with Politico, Trump said he doesn’t anticipate being found guilty but might consider a settlement “where they pay me some damages.”
While he boasted that his polling and fundraising numbers have risen since the indictment, he admitted he was displeased with the situation.
“Nobody likes to be indicted,” he mentioned. “I’ve never been indicted before. I’ve gone through my whole life, and now I get indicted every couple of months. It’s politically motivated.”
Trump was indicted in March in Manhattan over payments made to a porn actress before the 2016 election.
Trump is slated to appear in a Miami federal court for his arraignment on Tuesday. “SEE YOU IN MIAMI ON TUESDAY!!!” he posted on Truth Social on Friday. Law enforcement in South Florida is increasing security in anticipation of the event as some individuals on social media are urging Trump supporters to gather in Miami.
While many Republicans have voiced their support for Trump, not all share this sentiment.
“As Donald Trump is entitled to the presumption of innocence, the ongoing criminal proceedings will be a significant distraction. This confirms the need for Donald Trump to respect the office and cease his campaign,” commented Asa Hutchinson, the previous governor of Arkansas who is running for president, after the indictment news broke.
During an interview on Fox News Sunday, Trump’s former attorney general, Bill Barr, expressed his shock at the sensitive nature and quantity of documents Trump had. He affirmed that it was reasonable for the government to prioritize recovering them.
“If even half of it is true, then he’s done for,” Barr remarked about the charges against Trump. “It’s a very detailed indictment, and it’s very, very incriminating.”
