Donald Trump stressed that Democrats will again try to “steal” the presidential election and claimed that Fulton County district attorney Fani Willis is being “killed” for suing him.
The former president seemed no less belligerent on the eve of his momentous arrest in Georgia.
“It’s wild animals, it’s people who are sick,” Trump said of his enemies. “There’s a level of hatred I’ve never seen.”
“Even the Democrats say you can’t bring these cases, you don’t have a case,” the former president told Tucker Carlson in an interview on X, formerly Twitter.
“The District Attorney, Fani, Fani Willis, in Atlanta, she’s being killed,” he continued — in terms reminiscent of his rhetoric leading up to the January 6 riot at the Capitol.
Willis sued the former president on 13 counts for attempting to overturn Georgia’s election results, citing, among other things, the state’s racketeering laws.
“It’s wild animals, it’s people who are sick,” Trump says of his rivals
In effect, she’s saying, “Trump has no right to criticize that election.” But you’ve been around long enough, you’ve seen a lot of elections – Hillary Clinton is going crazy. Every time she talks she says, “He’s not the president.”
An Atlanta area judge on Monday approved a $200,000 bail for Trump, but the terms of that bail barred Trump from communicating with witnesses or co-defendants and ordered him not to make “direct or indirect threats of any kind”. whatsoever against the community or for all the property in the community.’
Trump then referred to Georgia gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams, who refused to concede to Governor Brian Kemp in the 2018 election.
“She still thinks she won the election for governor,” Trump said. “She still thinks she never recanted that. And I think Stacey Abrams will be charged for that golf course, not you for his release. The Democrats don’t get sued for things like that, they don’t get impeached.”
At another point, Trump insisted that mail-in ballots would always lead to cheating, even as the Republican National Committee launched a new ad encouraging absenteeism and early voting.
“Anytime you have ballots in the mail, you can massively cheat your elections at any time,” Trump insisted, seemingly without regret for the fraud claims that led to 18 arrests in Fulton County, Georgia.
“Not just the presidential election, anytime. That’s the whole point of them: they want to cheat.’
“They have to cheat because their policies are so bad that if they didn’t cheat they couldn’t get elected. Who wants open borders, who wants high taxes?’ he continued.
A group of nine Trump allies have made their way into Georgia jail so far this week and their police photos have been released by the sheriff’s office.
The 41 charges against Trump and his 18 co-defendants mark the fourth and final charge against the former president. Trump has not had to take a mugshot for his previous three indictments.
“The District Attorney, Fannie, Fannie Willis, in Atlanta, is killed,” Trump continued
Trump was indicted on RICO – Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations – a charge often used to try mafia figures, cartel leaders and gang bosses.
He is also charged with inciting a government official to violate the oath; first degree conspiracy to commit forgery; perjury; and numerous other censuses.
If convicted on all charges, he faces up to 71 years in prison — and state charges, unlike federal charges, cannot be pardoned by a president.
During the interview, Trump also directed his anger at President Biden, who he said he didn’t think would make it to the 2024 election. Mitch McConnell has been trying to rally support to impeach him.
“I don’t think he’s going to make it to the gate, but you never know,” the 80-year-old Biden said in a comment that seems to indicate he believes his main rival will not survive.
The interview appeared Wednesday night on X. — in direct competition with the first Republican presidential debate, where rivals are scrambling to gain an edge to become an alternative to Trump.
Interviewer Tucker Carlson hyped an explosive interview on the X platform where he asks former President Donald Trump if the country is headed for civil war
Trump decided to stay out of the debate stage in Milwaukee while holding a large lead in the polls
The interview was pre-recorded. Carlson also asked Trump why he didn’t participate in the prime time debate
Biden’s own campaign team denounced the interview before coming out as a “softball” interview touting “conspiracy theories.”
The prime time drama took place hours before Trump planned to surrender Thursday to authorities in Fulton County, Georgia, to be processed and have his mug shot taken, after he was charged with racketeering conspiracy related to his election efforts in the state.
“Crooked Joe Biden is so bad he’s the worst president in the history of our country,” Trump says in the clip, in a sentence that could have come from the Truth Social platform he owns.
His interview with Carlson took place in a carefully selected location on X, a platform owned by Elon Musk, who restored Trump’s suspended Twitter account.
Carlson was fired from Fox following a massive settlement with Dominion Voting Systems, which sued the network for spreading election conspiracy theories about its equipment. The company settled for $787 million.
On Wednesday, the network will try to lure viewers to the prime time debate in Milwaukee, in a swing state that Trump won in 2016 but lost in 2020.
In texts released during the lawsuit, it was revealed that Carlson wrote on January 4, 2020:
“We are very, very close to ignoring Trump most nights. I really can’t wait.’ Then he wrote, “I hate him passionately.”
But his platform benefits both men. Carlson is able to fix himself while displacing the network that jettisoned him, while still paying his hefty salary. Trump is allowed to be on the air without rivals gaining an advantage over him.
Carlson also asked Trump why he was not at the debate. Rivals, including Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, have characterized him as afraid to show up. Trump has said he had a big head start and it was not necessary.
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