Donald Trump held a boisterous rally before an energetic crowd in North Carolina on Saturday, where he decried the criminal cases against him and called himself a “proud political dissident” as he battles charges of election interference and mishandling of classified documents.
The meeting came just hours after Trump took to Truth Social to post on what he called Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis’ “SEXCAPADES” as a judge weighs whether to disqualify her in the Georgia election interference case.
In the all-caps post on Truth Social Saturday morning, Trump wrote, “WHERE DID FANI GET ALL THAT CASH? IN NO WAY DID SHE PAY BACK HER LOVER, “Prosecutor” NATHAN WADE. SHE SENT THE CASH STORY WHEN SHE AWARE THAT HER ‘SEX CAPADES’ ARE PAID FOR BY THE PEOPLE OF GEORGIA. AGAIN: WHERE IS THE MONEY AND WHERE DOES IT COME FROM?’
He repeated his accusations at the Greensboro meeting, where he suggested that Willis benefited financially from a romantic relationship with Wade, accusations that Willis has adamantly refuted in court.
Trump also went after special counsel Jack Smith, who has filed charges against him for mishandling classified documents and election interference, calling Smith “deranged” but claiming that “we’re hurting him.”
Earlier this week, the Supreme Court agreed to hear arguments in April on whether the former president has immunity from prosecution in the election interference case.
And on Friday, Florida’s district judge expressed skepticism about the July timeline Smith has pushed for in the case involving the secret documents found at Mar-a-Lago.
Trump denounced the criminal charges against him, claiming without evidence that they’re “not 91 charges, they’re not legitimate, they’re Biden charges” and whining that the charges should all be dropped.
Trump said being indicted is a “great badge of honor” and told his supporters he is doing it for them.
“I stand before you today, not only as your past president, but hopefully as your future president, as a proud political dissident and as a public enemy of a rogue regime,” Trump said.
Trump speaks in Greensboro, North Carolina, just days before voters in the state go to the polls to vote on Super Tuesday. During his speech, Trump targeted Special Prosecutor Jack Smith and Fulton County District Attorney Fanni Willis for the cases against him
Trump’s visit to North Carolina comes ahead of Super Tuesday, when Republican voters in the Tar Heel State head to the polls to cast their ballots in the presidential primaries.
North Carolina is one of fifteen states holding Republican elections on March 5, with 854 delegates up for grabs.
During the meeting, Trump also vowed to “close the border” as he ramped up his fearmongering, going into gruesome detail as he described crimes committed by migrants, blaming President Biden just days after he and Biden’s dueling visits had at the southern border.
Ahead of the rally at the Greensboro Coliseum Complex, the line of Trump supporters dressed in their MAGA gear snaked through the parking lot hours before the former president’s remarks.
Trump supporters line up to attend the former president’s campaign event in Greensboro, NC. Voters in North Carolina will go to the polls on Tuesday to cast their ballots in the presidential election
Trump supporters hold signs for the former president ahead of his speech in Greensboro
Nikki Haley during her rally in Charlotte Friday evening. She also held a rally in Raleigh on Saturday ahead of the state’s primaries on Tuesday
Nikki Haley, Trump’s only Republican opponent still in the presidential primaries, was also in North Carolina, holding a rally in Charlotte on Friday evening and an event in Raleigh on Saturday.
Trump continues to gain momentum after winning every Republican primary to date, including Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada, South Carolina and Michigan. He currently has 155 delegates and his campaign expects that he will likely win the nomination with the necessary 1,215 delegates within the next two weeks.
On Saturday, Trump won the Republican caucuses in Missouri, which he praised at the rally.
Early voting in North Carolina ended Saturday afternoon. The state is holding a partially closed primary. Registered Republicans can vote just as well as unaffiliated voters who choose a Republican ballot.
Trump will meet for the second time on Saturday evening in Virginia, another state where primaries will take place on Tuesday.
North Carolina is also one of the biggest battleground states in the November elections.
“The road to the White House runs straight through North Carolina,” Republican candidate for governor and current Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson said Saturday.
Ahead of the former president’s event, the Biden campaign released a statement from Democratic Governor Roy Cooper, who said the choice in November will be “between President Biden, who wakes up every day thinking about the American people, and Donald Trump, who wakes up every day thinking about himself.”
Trump won the state by fewer than 75,000 votes against Biden in November 2020.