PORTSMOUTH, N.H. — Dan Steele knows what a long day in court is like. So he was extra grateful Wednesday that former President Donald Trump traveled to New Hampshire after spending a day in a New York courtroom, where he sat defiantly during his trial to determine damages for defaming a magazine writer after she accused him of had been accused of sexual assault.
Steele, a retired trial attorney for the Justice Department, said he has not delved into the details of the wide range of cases against Trump. That includes four lawsuits — including two by Steele’s former employer — plus the defamation lawsuit, which follows a $5 million verdict for E. Jean Carroll in her first sexual assault lawsuit against Trump, plus a fraud case filed by the New York court. The Attorney General’s Office. But Steele dismissed them as “all campaign meddling by the Democrats because there is no other way they can beat him.”
“Every time he goes into a courtroom,” Steele, 75, who retired in 2016, said approvingly of Trump, “he always comes out with more support.”
Steele and a few hundred other supporters waited for hours for Trump, who postponed his appearance in New Hampshire for a late afternoon news conference after the court’s ruling labeling the judge in the case as “a radical Trump hater.”
The former president spoke more than two hours later than scheduled at a venue much smaller than his normal location: a hotel ballroom that could only accommodate about 300 people. He ended his long day with a lengthy speech that lasted more than an hour.
He mocked his primary rivals, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley. Then he quickly pivoted, citing a cognitive test he took as president, his administration’s campaign against the Islamic State and other familiar themes. Eventually he started complaining about his legal problems.
“You know I’ve been indicted more times than Al Capone,” Trump told the crowd. ‘Have you ever heard of Al Capone? Probably the biggest gangster of them all.”
The scene in New Hampshire was a somewhat surreal early look at the coming campaign, in which the frontrunner for the Republican presidential nomination will still face his first criminal trial on March 5, which is also known as Super Tuesday because 14 states vote in the nominating contest. Although the trial start date may be postponed, Trump will have to juggle stump speeches and his legal defense all year long, just as he did on Wednesday.
Trump has made his legal troubles a centerpiece of his primary campaign, and voters appear unimpressed by his increasingly confrontational approach to America’s legal system. Last week, as his rivals crossed Iowa first in the nation ahead of Monday’s caucuses, Trump remained largely in New York and Washington, attending two trials against him and ensuring his voters saw him as someone who fought back against persecution . He won Iowa with 51% of the caucus votes.
New Hampshire is the next state in the Republican nomination contest, and Trump appears intent on combining the court with campaigning. On Wednesday, Trump was warned by the judge in the case that he would be thrown out of the courtroom if he continued to talk while Carroll was testifying.
“I would love it,” Trump replied.
The crowd in New Hampshire cheered wildly as Trump took the stage and cheered heartily against some of his standard campaign lines. Trump was clearly in good spirits, enjoying a back-and-forth with a receptive crowd after a day of being forced to sit quietly and admonished to keep quiet in the courtroom.
“Would you trust Joe Biden to run your store while you go to New Hampshire to find a little hill to go skiing?” Trump asked at one point, speaking about his likely Democratic rival like a stand-up comic in November.
He later joked about former President Jimmy Carter, who is currently in a hospice in Georgia with terminal cancer. “He’s happy because his presidency is now considered brilliant compared to Joe Biden,” Trump said.
At one point, after Trump quoted praise from his former White House doctor, now a Republican congressman from Texas and a fierce Biden critic, the crowd erupted in laughter. “That’s Ronny Jackson from Texas,” Trump said, as if crediting a fellow performer on stage.
Finally, as Trump’s speech lasted well over an hour, the ballroom became stuffy and people began to trickle out.
Attendees had waited outside for hours in 70-degree temperatures in New Hampshire before waiting hours more inside. But they were sympathetic to Trump, echoing his oft-repeated arguments about what he believes is his legal challenge.
“I think it’s disgusting what they’re doing to him, but he’s doing what he has to do,” said Beverly Rider, who traveled from neighboring Maine to the Portsmouth hotel to wait for Trump on Wednesday morning. for us.”
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Associated Press writer Nicholas Riccardi in Denver contributed to this report.
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