He also used his remarks to rail against President Joe Biden and his 2016 Democratic rival, Hillary Clinton, accusing them of mishandling classified information and insisting he was treated unfairly because he is a Republican. But Trump overlooked a critical difference: Only he has been accused of intentionally trying to impede investigators by not returning the classified documents.
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Trump also lingered on Georgia’s role in his 2020 defeat, repeating his lies that he had won the state and defending his efforts to overturn Biden’s victory, which is now the subject of an investigation by Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis. She has suggested that any indictments would likely come in August.
Despite the latest criminal charges, attendees cheered him on in Georgia and eagerly awaited his arrival in North Carolina, where he will speak at the party’s convention Saturday evening.
About 100 supporters, some waving “Witch Hunt” signs, showed up to the Columbus, Georgia, airfield to greet Trump as he arrived. Jan Plemmons, 66, wearing an oversize foam “Make America Great Again” hat, called the federal charges “absolutely ridiculous” and said she was ready to campaign with Trump. To Michael Sellers, 67, it was “criminal what they’re doing to him”.
After his speech, Trump stopped by a local Waffle House, where he signed autographs, posed for photos and chatted with supporters.
The indictment arrives as Trump is continuing to dominate the primary race. Other candidates have largely attacked the Justice Department – rather than Trump – for the investigation. But the indictment’s breadth of allegations and scope could make it harder for Republicans to rail against these charges compared with an earlier New York criminal case that many legal analysts had derided as weak.
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Trump is due to make his first federal court appearance on Tuesday in Miami. He was charged alongside valet Walt Nauta, a personal aide whom prosecutors say moved boxes from a storage room to Trump’s residence for him to review and later lied to investigators about the movement. A photograph included in the indictment shows several dozen file boxes stacked in a storage area.
Among the various investigations he has faced, the documents case has long been considered the most perilous threat and the one most ripe for prosecution. But Trump’s continued popularity among Republican voters is evident in how gingerly his primary rivals have treated the federal indictment.