The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Trump touts acquittal: 'I did nothing wrong
President predicts reelection, says GOP never more unified.
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump on Thursday celebrated his acquittal in the Senate trial at the White House, telling a crowd of Republican allies that his impeachment was a “disgrace” and that he “went through hell unfairly.”
Trump boasted of his acquittal by the Senate as he opened his remarks Thursday afternoon, at one point holding up a copy of The Washington Post’s front page, just as he did during the National Prayer Breakfast a few hours earlier.
“We went through hell unfairly — did nothing wrong. I did nothing wrong. I’ve done things wrong in my life, I will admit — not purposely, but I’ve done things wrong,” Trump said, prompting a few laughs from the audience.
“But this is what the end result is,” he added, holding up thef ront page for the crowd.
Trump singled out several Republican lawmakers for praise Thursday afternoon. He paid particular attention to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., who led the push in the Senate for his acquittal and has also shepherded a record number of judicial confirmations through the chamber.
He declared t hat the Republican Party has never been more unified and that the momentum from the acquittal would carry him to reelection this November. But he also predicted that he may have to fend off another impeachment challenge, perhaps for something as trivial as jaywalking.
Earlier, speaking from a stage where he was joined by congressional leaders, including DemocraticHouse Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who led the impeachment charge against him, Trump broke the usual veneer of bipartisanship at the National Prayer Breakfast in Washington.
“As everybody knows, my family, our great country and your president have been put through a terrible ordeal by some very dishonest and corrupt people,” Trump said at the annual event.
His remarks came after a series of Scripture-quoting speeches, including a keynote address by Arthur Brooks, a Harvard professor and president of a conservative think tank, who had bemoaned a “crisis of contempt and polarization” in the nation and urged those gathered to “love your enemies.”
“I don’t know if I agree with you,” Trump said as he took the microphone.
“I don’t like people who use their faith as justification for doing what they know is wrong,” he said in an apparent reference to Utah Sen. Mitt Romney, a longtime Trump critic who cited his faith in becoming the only Republican to vote for Trump’s removal.
“Nor do I like people who say, ‘I pray for you’ when you know that is not so,” he said, in a reference to Pelosi, who has offered that message for the president when the two leaders have sparred publicly.
The House speaker shook her head at various points during Trump’s remarks but did not appear to interact with Trump personally.