The former president says the country is \u2018going to hell\u2019
Former President Donald Trump released a four-plus minute video on Truth Social on Thursday decrying the \u201cwoke\u201d military, spreading baseless conspiracy theories about electoral politics, and announcing that the United States is \u201cgoing to hell\u201d as he is indicted by the Justice Department.
Mr Trump posted to the social media platform earlier on Thursday that was going to be indicted over his handling of classified documents after leaving the presidency, and, as that post and the subsequent video show, he\u2019s not happy with the news.
\u201cIt\u2019s election interference at the highest level,\u201d Mr Trump said. \u201cThere\u2019s never been anything like what\u2019s happened. I\u2019m an innocent man, an innocent person.\u201d
Mr Trump, who earlier this year became the first ever former president to be indicted when he was charged in New York over his role in the alleged payment of hush money to adult film Stormy Daniels, is now facing even more legal trouble as he attempts to reclaim the White House next winter.
In his video response to the news that he is now also the first former president to ever face a federal indictment, Mr Trump aired a long list of familiar grievances \u2014 including that he is being persecuted because he has strong poll numbers and that all of the evidence complied against him is a \u201choax.\u201d
\u201cWe\u2019re leading against Biden by a lot, a tremendous amount,\u201d Mr Trump said. \u201cAnd we went up to a level where the figured the way they\u2019re going to stop us is by using what\u2019s called warfare. And that\u2019s what it is. This is warfare for the law. And we can\u2019t let it happen. We can\u2019t let it happen. Our country is going to hell, and they come after Donald Trump.\u201d
Mr Trump\u2019s rambling video also included a claim that the military was not \u201cwoke\u201d when he was president \u2014 one of a number of purported accomplishments he lists.
\u201cWhen you look at what\u2019s happened to our country in the last three years, we were energy independent, we had a military that wasn\u2019t woke, we were doing so well, we were respected all over the world, we had the biggest tax cuts in history, biggest regulation cuts in history, and what do you do? You have a president where the election was taken,\u201d Mr Trump said.
The Justice Department has been building its case against Mr Trump for his handling of classified documents after leaving the White House since at least last summer, when FBI agents searched the former president\u2019s Mar-a-Lago residence and removed a number of potentially classified documents from the premises.
Mr Trump may also be in trouble for attempting to impede the Justice Department\u2019s investigation \u2014 The New York Times reported on Thursday evening that the former president is facing seven different counts including conspiracy to obstruct and false statements.
In Mr Trump\u2019s world, however, it\u2019s all part of a grand plan to deny him and his far right movement power.
\u201cIt\u2019s called election interference,\u201d Mr Trump said. \u201cThey\u2019re trying to destroy your reputation so they can win an election. That\u2019s just as bad as doing any of the other things that have been done over the last number of years, and especially during the 2020 election.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n