Former president donald trump criticized prosecutors and president Joe Biden on Saturday night, telling donors at a private event in Florida that the president is “running a Gestapo administration.”
Over the course of a lengthy, nearly 90-minute speech, Trump criticized the criminal charges he faces and the ongoing trial in New York, which enters its third week, according to a recording of the former president’s comments. Overall, Trump faces dozens of criminal charges in four separate cases.
“These people run a Gestapo administration, and it’s the only thing they have, and it’s the only way they can win,” Trump said, referring to the secret police during Nazi Germany. “But it doesn’t bother me.”
“If you care too much, you tend to choke,” he said.
Trump, during his speech in Palm Beach, broadly criticized Democrats, discussed his golf game and stated that he is doing well in the polls.
But he frequently returned to criminal charges and, without providing evidence, accused the White House of orchestrating the cases against him.
“Until I was indicted, I respected the office of president,” said Trump, who tried unsuccessfully to overturn the 2020 election results. “As soon as I was indicted, I said, ‘Well, now the gloves have to come off.’” .
The former president also raised the federal case against the deputy. Henry Cuéllar (D-Texas), which the Department of Justice indicted on Friday for allegedly accepting $600,000 in bribes of two foreign entities. Cuellar, a moderate Democrat whose district is on the border with Mexico, has said he is innocent of the charges.
“He was indicted for political reasons because of things at the border,” Trump said of Cuellar. “What they did was turn the government into a weapon to persecute political opponents.”
The donor retreat was organized by the former president’s campaign and was expected to be attended by at least 400 people. Among the special guests listed were some potential vice presidential candidates, including Sens. Marco Rubio from Florida, Tim Scott of South Carolina and JD Vance of Ohio. The governors were also listed. Doug Burgum of North Dakota and Kristi Noem of South Dakota, among others.
At one point, Trump brought on stage Rod Blagojevich, the controversial former Democratic governor of Illinois, whose prison sentence for corruption was commuted by Trump.
Campaign officials on Saturday also told donors that Trump’s political operation it raised more than $76 million in April. The numbers were announced to donors by campaign managers Susie Wiles, Chris LaCivita and Tony Fabrizio.
The Trump campaign is struggling to catch up to Biden in fundraising. At the end of April, Biden had more than twice the amount of money as the former president.
