“It’s election interference at the highest level,” Trump said without evidence on Thursday night, echoing his response to his first indictment earlier this year in New York.
Donald Trump and his allies were defiant Thursday night in response to the Justice Department’s decision to charge him in connection with classified documents found at his Mar-a-Lago home, casting the case without evidence as politically motivated, while some rivals for the GOP presidential nomination were supportive.
“It’s election interference at the highest level,” Trump said in a video posted to his social media platform, Truth Social. He said he was innocent and would prove it.
Seeking another term in the White House, Trump has fundraised aggressively off his growing legal troubles and continues to suggest baselessly that they are an extension of enemies’ efforts to rig elections against him. His strategy on Thursday echoed his approach following a previous indictment this year in New York, where he has pleaded not guilty to falsifying business records. That development and his response served to strengthen his standing in the GOP, in part by outraging his loyal base.
The reactions from his rivals reinforced some of the arguments he was advancing. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who is running in second place behind the former president in polls of the GOP nominee race, sounded similar notes to the ones Trump and his allies were using.
“The weaponization of federal law enforcement represents a mortal threat to a free society. We have for years witnessed an uneven application of the law depending upon political affiliation,” DeSantis said in a statement, accusing government officials of being “zealous in pursuing Trump” and “passive” toward Democrat Hillary Clinton and President Biden’s son, Hunter Biden.
“The DeSantis administration will bring accountability to the DOJ, excise political bias and end weaponization once and for all,” he added.
Many GOP officials jumped to the former president’s defense on Thursday night, and one long-shot rival for the Republican nomination, tech entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy, said he would “pardon Trump promptly on January 20, 2025” if elected.
The reactions from across the party underscored the continued power Trump holds in the GOP, even as he faces growing legal peril, as well as the political risks his rivals see in taking him to task over charges that could inspire an impassioned rebuke from conservative voters.
