Trump blames Biden for all his legal woes
Donald Trump used a break in his hush money trial to stage back-toback appearances in two Midwestern battleground states on Wednesday (local time) but kept his legal woes front and centre as he accused US President Joe Biden of weaponising the courts against him.
The former Republican president, who is running for a return to the White House, rallied supporters in Wisconsin and Michigan, which are among the most hotly contested states in his expected rematch with Mr Biden.
The speeches featured all of Mr Trump’s set pieces, from complaints about environmentally friendly household appliances to apocalyptic warnings of a looming world war – but his speech in Michigan was notable for its vitriol.
“Every single thing he touches turns to shit,” Mr Trump said of Mr Biden in a speech in Freeland, Michigan, peppered with profane language about his criminal charges, his 2020 election defeat and his determination to win re-election in November.
Mr Trump had already spoken at a rally in the Wisconsin town of Waukesha, where he attacked Mr Biden’s over the economy and immigration.
In both appearances he accused Democrats of “executing” newborn babies as he turned to the deeply divisive issue of abortion rights, and in both he revived baseless claims Mr Biden is behind the felony charges he is facing.
“I’ve got to do two of these things a day,” he told a sea of red hats at his Michigan rally.
“You know why? Because I’m in New York all the time with the Biden trial – a fake trial that all of the legal scholars say is a disgrace,” he claimed in Michigan.
Mr Trump regularly complains that his indictments – three for alleged cheating in elections and one for hoarding classified documents – are being orchestrated as part of a political witch hunt, but never offers any evidence.
The 77-year-old tycoon used his rare day on the stump to project his preferred image as a confident, seasoned campaigner, far from the Manhattan courtroom where he is accused of covering up payments to a porn star before the 2016 presidential election.
Mr Trump is the first former US president to face criminal charges, in the trial in which he faces charges of falsifying business records when he paid $US130,000 to porn star Stormy Daniels over claims they had an affair.
In Waukesha, the former president also accused Mr Biden of being too passive on the pro-Palestinian student demonstrations that have convulsed college campuses nationwide, and of allowing the country to be “invaded” by migrant hordes.
Although Mr Trump is known to be energised by his campaign rallies, he had not held a single one since the start of his trial on April 15, with the only planned event cancelled due to bad weather.
“I have come here today from New York City where I’m being forced to sit for days on end in a kangaroo courtroom with a corrupt and conflicted judge enduring a Biden sideshow trial at the hands of a Marxist district attorney,” he complained in Michigan.