Trump calls classified documents special prosecutor Jack Smith a ‘f**king a**hole’, brands Fani Willis a ‘real beauty’ and likens himself to Al Capone during fiery Mar-a-Lago speech.
Donald Trump sprayed the room with expletives and compared himself to Al Capone on Saturday as he blasted prosecutors and threatened to send him to prison.
The former president accused Democrats of running a “Gestapo government” and called special counsel Jack Smith a “f**king a**hole” as he addressed a $40,000-a-head fundraiser at Mar-a-Lago.
He teased his audience about who he would choose as his vice presidential running mate and praised embattled House Speaker Mike Johnson, ordering Republican critics to “leave him alone.”
He mocked Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis as “a real beauty,” and joked that his daughter-in-law Lara would not have married his son Eric if she had known her future father-in-law was facing prison.
“Once I got charged, I said, holy s***, I just got charged. I have been charged,” he said. “In fact, Lara, if she knew I had been charged, she probably wouldn’t have joined the family.
The former president came out with all guns blazing as he returned to Mar-a-Lago on Saturday for a $40,000-per-head fundraising lunch for donors and lawmakers.
He labeled Special Prosecutor Jack Smith a “f**king a**hole” and Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis “a real beauty” as he set his sights on prosecutors seeking to jail him.
He returned to his Florida headquarters after a week in New York during his hush money trial against Stormy Daniels
About 400 donors and lawmakers attended the luncheon at Trump’s Florida estate, which he returned to on Friday evening after the first week of his hush money trial in New York.
In his 90-minute speech, he said he was surprised he was the first ex-president to be criminally charged and blamed his 2020 defeat on Democrats who “rigged and stole that election.” And we won’t let that happen again,” said a tape leaked to the channel WashingtonPost.
And he compared himself to infamous Chicago gangster Alphonse “Al” Capone, who eventually went to prison for tax evasion
The presumptive Republican nominee faces 88 criminal charges in four separate state and federal cases, including a Georgia state indictment led by Willis for interference in the 2020 election results.
She was forced to fire her special prosecutor Nathan Wade in March after it emerged the pair had been in a relationship during her prosecution of the case.
Trump called her “Mrs. Wade” and compared herself to infamous Chicago gangster Al Capone, who eventually went to prison for tax evasion.
“I was charged just like Alphonse and all these people,” he said.
But he put a protective arm around Johnson, who was among the audience facing a bid from Rep. Marjorie Taylor-Greene to dethrone him when Congress returns next week, interrupting his speech to tell him “you do it very well’. .
And he sympathized with Democratic Rep. Henry Cuellar, who suggested his indictment last week on charges of taking $600,000 in bribes from an Azerbaijani oil company “was for political reasons, because he was tough on the border.”
But he had less sympathy for his former attorney general Bill Barr, who described Trump’s conduct on Jan. 6 as “sickening” and told his audience he needed an AG with “courage.”
And he outlined some of the qualities he would look for in a vice president, stressing that there is no shortage of volunteers.
“It’s funny when I listen to the fake news, they’re all saying, ‘You know, he’s going to have a hard time getting people into his government because he’s very tough and I’m not sure he can get anyone to be vice president.’ president of the United States,” he told his audience.
“There are fifty people calling me and begging, ‘I will cut off my right arm, sir.’ Please, I want to be vice president.”
‘These are ambitious politicians.’
The former president has been unusually cagey about who could make the cuts.
But he singled out Rep. Elise Stefanik of New York, whose profile has soared since she questioned Ivy League college leaders about their handling of anti-Semitism on campus.
“Everyone said she was going to be the vice presidential candidate,” he teased.
He called North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum, pictured with his wife Kathryn, “really impressive” for providing the deepest insight yet into his thoughts on a VP nomination.
Representative Elise Stefanik of New York, whose profile has soared since she questioned Ivy League college leaders about their handling of anti-Semitism on campus, also received praise
Republican Senators Tim Scott and Marco Rubio have buried their differences with their former rival for the Republican presidential nomination
While reviewing VP options, Trump said ‘Hillbilly Elegy’ author and Ohio Sen. J.D. Vance ‘turned out to be incredible’
But he also called former Republican rival Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina “one of the greatest surrogates,” and said “Hillbilly Elegy” author and Ohio Sen. J.D. Vance “proved to be incredible.”
He called North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum, another Republican primary rival, “really impressive.”
And he kept the door open for his 2016 Republican rival “Little Marco” Rubio, insisting the Florida senator is a “talented man.”
“Every time they say, ‘Is it being taken into account?’ I say ‘Absolutely.’ Trump said.
The former president has faced legal fees of about $500 million in fines, judgments and legal bills over the past two years, and Reuters reported last month that Trump’s fundraising lagged behind Joe Biden’s by more than $30 million.
Eager to make amends on Saturday, the former president told his audience: “Anyone who makes a $1 million donation to the Republican Party right now, I’ll have you come and speak.”
Two donors took the stage after making their payments, with one of them telling the audience, “Donald J. Trump is the person God chose.”