Former President Donald Trump accused New York prosecutors of behaving like a 'communist dictatorship targeting political opponents' as he railed against criminal charges leveled against his company during a rally in Florida.
He unloaded his fury after a week that included seeing an employee paraded into court in handcuffs with a fiery rally speech on Saturday night in Sarasota, Florida.
Trump hit all his favorite targets, from immigration to fake news, but reserved special fury for prosecutors in New York.
'It's reminiscent of a communist dictatorship targeting their political opponents ... fabricating charges to try and silence them, abusing the justice system and leaking out information on a daily basis to the press, to engage in flagrant character assassination,' he said to cheers.
But he said the 'witch hunt' that began when he first ran for office would backfire, cementing his support.
'In America people will not stand for it,' he said.
The Florida trip was his second campaign-style rally since leaving office, a mass gathering of the MAGA faithful as he seeks to retain his grip on the Republican Party and boost allies before next year's midterm elections.
Before the rally began, Trump told Newsmax that he had spoken to Florida governor Ron DeSantis and had told him not to attend the event, and instead stay in Miami where he is dealing with the aftermath of the Surfside condo collapse.
He said: 'He is working very hard. He is doing a very good job. He should be there. I told him: 'You should be there, this is not that important for you'. He of all people should be there.'
The rally, billed as a Fourth of July celebration, drew tens of thousands of people to a grassy fairground, braving first blistering temperatures and then torrential Florida rain.
The gathering of the MAGA faithful came as Trump seeks to retain his grip on the Republican Party and boost allies before next year's midterm elections
Former President Trump delivered angry retort to criminal charges against his company during a rally in Sarasota, Florida
Trump hit all his favorite targets, from immigration to fake news, but reserved special fury for prosecutors in New York
'Democrats are mobilizing every power of government to come after me, my family, my wonderful employees'
The rally was a chance for Trump to respond to the events of Thursday, when Trump's namesake company and chief financial officer pleaded not guilty to 15 criminal charges brought by prosecutors investigating suspected tax fraud.
They alleged that Allen Weisselberg had failed to pay tax on $1.7 million of perks - including Mercedes cars, an apartment and tuition fees for his grandchildren.
The Trump Organization and Weisselberg, pleaded not guilty on Thursday to what a New York prosecutor called a 'sweeping and audacious' tax fraud, arising from a probe into Trump's business and its practices.
Trump told thousands of supporters: 'They go after good hard working people for not paying taxes on a company car. Or a company apartment. Or education for your grandchildren. But they indict people for that.
'But for murder or for selling massive amounts of the worst drugs in the world, that's ok.
'Think of how unfair it is. Never before has New York City and their prosecutors criminally charged a company or a person for fringe benefits. Murder is OK, human trafficking is no problem, but fringe benefits you can't do.'
He added: 'It's really called prosecutorial misconduct. It's a terrible, terrible thing.'
He railed against the charges in New York and compared the prosecutors to Third World dictators.
'This is the kind of persecution they are doing - as an example in New York and they're doing it all over - that you would see in a Third World nation. This isn't for us, it's reminiscent of a communist dictatorship targeting your political opponents for really it is, think of it, prosecution. They prosecute people, good people, fabulous people, people who love our country.'
Trump said financial companies that caused the financial crash, or Democrats like Hillary Clinton or Hunter Biden were never investigated.
'They leave Democrats alone no matter how bad they are but mobilize every power of government to come after me, my family, my wonderful employees and my company solely because of politics,' he said.
'They want to do things to hurt us.'
Trump's audience lapped up his attacks, booing the villains of the story and cheering Trump's defiance.
Supporter Russell Kasper, 45, said the timing of the court appearance, just as the former president, returns to the rally stage was suspect.
'It's very odd timing,' he said.
'I'm not someone who thinks Trump is perfect or who has never done anything wrong - but it looks as if they are out to get him.'
The rally, billed as a Fourth of July celebration, drew tens of thousands of people to a grassy fairground
Trump unloaded his fury after a week that included seeing an employee paraded into court in handcuffs
'The Biden administration has launched an all-out assault on everything we cherish'
Trump also hit out at woke culture which he claimed has put July Fourth celebrations at risk of being cancelled.
To roars from the crowd he said: 'Tomorrow we will celebrate 245 years of glorious American independence, and it won't be cancelled by the way.
'We will teach young people across the country that George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, John Hancock will forever be American heroes. People want to take their names off buildings, can you believe it.
'They took names off buildings like George Washington, and I told you this is where they're coming from. We're not going to let that happen.'
He continued: 'The mission for all of us here tonight is to preserve the legacy July 4th 1776, and to defend our liberty from the radical left movement that seeks to cancel this date, demolish our heritage, and destroy our beloved nation.
'In just five months the Biden administration has launched an all-out assault on everything we cherish and we value.
'Under Joe Biden and the left - I don't know if it's Joe to be honest with you. It's somebody, does anybody know who it is?
'Free speech is under assault like never before. Religious liberty is being crushed.'
Trump also hit out at woke culture which he claimed has put July Fourth celebrations at risk of being cancelled
Donald Trump Jr. speaks to his father's supporters during the Save America rally at the Sarasota Fairgrounds
'I traveled to the southern border to witness Joe Biden's demolition of American sovereignty'
Trump also described his visit to the border this week, contrasting his policies with those of Biden who he described as responsible for the 'willful and deliberate' destruction of immigration controls.
He said: 'Three days ago I traveled to the southern border to witness Joe Biden's demolition of American sovereignty first hand.
'The Biden administration's willful and deliberate obliteration of America's borders and immigration law is a crime against this nation.
'We will not stop and we will not rest until illegal policies are overturned and there's so many of them.'
He hailed his own achievements at the border, saying: 'When I left office we had the most secure border in US history. We ended catch and release, we ended asylum fraud.
'We stopped the migrant caravans. You remember the caravans? They are coming back like never before.'
And he said Democrats' policies of ending cash bail and defunding the police were responsible for spreading the 'nightmare of lawlessness.
'The bloodshed is beyond belief,' he said.
The rally ended with a fireworks display for supporters at the Sarasota Fairgrounds
The Florida trip was his second campaign-style rally since leaving office, a mass gathering of the MAGA faithful as he seeks to retain his grip on the Republican Party
'We have a truly sick election system'
Trump's remarks included a Fourth of July flavor, tying his election defeat to the spirit of the American Revolution.
'We have a truly sick election system,' he said after revisiting familiar, unfounded complaints about last year's election and promising to restore the time-honored tradition of voting in person on election day.
He said: 'The evidence of fraud, irregularities and illegalities is already overwhelming, and frankly it was a long time ago.
'Democrats used Covid to cheat - they illegally changed the rules in the key states and mailed out millions and millions of absentee ballots all over.'
He added: 'Remember this: I am not the one trying to undermine American democracy. I am the one trying to save American democracy.'
But nobody, he said could take away Americans' God-given right to liberty.
'Our movement is up against some of the most sinister forces and entrenched interests that anyone can imagine,' he said.
'But no matter how powerful or how big they may seem, you must never forget this nation does not belong to them. This nation belongs to you.'
Trump stoked speculation that he is serious about mounting a 2024 run even though he says he won't make an announcement until after next year's midterms
'Who shot Ashli Babbitt? We all saw the hand, we all saw the gun'
Midway through an attack on Mitch McConnell, saying Republicans needed to get a real leader, Trump pivoted to the events of January 6 when his supporters raided the Capitol building and one was shot dead by law enforcement.
'And by the way, who shot Ashli Babbitt? Who shot Ashli Babbitt? We all saw the hand, we all saw the gun,' he said, adding to the chorus of rightwing voices demanding to know the identity of the police officer who killed the Capitol Hill rioter.
'I spoke to her mother the other day, and her brother. Just devastated ...'
The Department of Justice closed the case after determining that 35-year-old Babbitt, a 14-year-military veteran, was shot in self-defense by a police officer.
'If that were on the other side the person that did the shooting would be strung up,' said Trump.
'Now they don't want to give the name. People know the name.'
The Florida trip was his second campaign-style rally since leaving office
Trump used the rally to tease his fans about a possible presidential run in 2024. 'We are looking at the election, more than looking at it,' he said
'We are looking at the election, more than looking at it'
Trump used the rally to tease his fans about a possible presidential run in 2024.
'We are looking at the election, more than looking at it,' he said, prompting cheers from the Sarasota crowd.
The former president retains a strong grip on his party. Some 53 percent of Republicans still believe that Trump won last year's election, according to a recent Reuters/Ipsos poll.
He has previously said he won't make an announcement on a potential 2024 campaign until after next year's midterms.
His spokeswoman Liz Harrington has said: 'Not only does he feel the country is in a dire situation, he wants to be out there giving hope to our supporters and Americans who are really worried about their country.
'What is happening is not America and we need to stand up for our country on a weekend like this, celebrating our history.'
The rally at the Sarasota County Fairgrounds is the latest event as Trump eases back into public campaigning
People wait for the arrival of former U.S. President Donald Trump to the rally
At the same time, many Republicans see DeSantis as an attractive candidate.
His standing grew as Florida reopened early from the coronavirus pandemic and he has been at the head of Republican fights against racial justice protests and voting reform.
In a recent straw poll of possible 2024 candidates in Denver he even beat Trump by 74 percent to 71 percent.
Trump aides were forced to deny they had been asked to postpone Saturday's campaign-style rally, amid reports DeSantis's team asked for a delay while the state was still recovering bodies from the collapsed building.
But advisers and former staff close to the two Republican figureheads say reports of tensions are overblown.
'It's a media creation,' said Sam Nunberg, Trump's former campaign adviser.
'People are just looking for splits that don't exist.'
Helen Aguirre Ferre, executive director of the Florida Republican Party and a former communications director for the governor, said: 'Any idea of a rift comes from anonymous sources who don't put their names on the records is pretty tell-tale.
'If it was well-founded information they should go on the record.'
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