COLUMBUS, Ga. — Donald Trump delivered his first public remarks following his indictment earlier in the week, vowing to stay in the 2024 race for president while slamming his political enemies and special counsel Jack Smith.
Speaking at the state Republican convention in Georgia in front of a packed crowd of 2,000 people, Trump once again declared his innocence and called out what he claimed is the biased federal law enforcement.
“In the end, they’re not coming after me. They’re coming after you — and I’m just standing in their way,” Trump said.
“The ridiculous and baseless indictment of me by the Biden administration’s weaponized Department of Injustice will go down as among the most horrific abuses of power in the history of our country,” he said. “Many people have said that; Democrats have even said it. This vicious persecution is a travesty of justice.”
Trump’s remarks came a day after the Justice Department unsealed a lengthy indictment that alleges Trump kept sensitive material from his time in the White House, even though he knew many remained classified. It also says the former president lied to federal agents and investigators about his involvement.
He called Smith “deranged” and said the Justice Department was a “sick nest of people that need to be cleaned out.”
“They took one charge and made it 37,” Trump said. “It’s a political hit job.”
There is no law that would prohibit Trump from running for president from prison or as a convicted felon.
The former president lashed out against the Department of Justice, the FBI, and the Biden administration. He also repeated unsupported claims that Joe Biden had stashed secret documents in the Chinatown neighborhood of Washington DC.
“We got to stand up to the … radical left Democrats, their lawless partisan prosecutors … Every time I fly over a blue state, I get a subpoena,” said Trump. “I’ve put everything on the line and I will never yield. I will never be detained. I will never stop fighting for you.
Before his speech, Trump spoke to Politico, telling the outlet he does not plan to leave the race, even if he is convicted.
“I’ll never leave,” he said. “Look, if I would have left, I would have left prior to the original race in 2016. That was a rough one. In theory that was not doable.”
