WACO, Texas (AP) — Facing potential impeachment, Donald Trump took a defiant stance during a rally in Waco on Saturday, vilifying prosecutors investigating him and predicting revenge as he rallied supporters in a city famous for deadly resistance against law enforcement.
Hand over heart, Trump stood at attention as his rally began with a song called “Justice for All” performed by a choir of people imprisoned for their roles in the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol. Images of the insurrection were shown on large screens displayed at the rally venue, while the choir sang the national anthem and a recording of Trump reciting the Pledge of Allegiance was played.
The stunning performance opened Trump’s first rally of his 2024 Republican presidential campaign. He then launched into a rousing speech and framed the investigation, including a New York grand jury probe, as political attacks on him and his followers.
“You will be vindicated and proud,” Trump said, “the criminals and criminals who corrupt our justice system will be defeated, discredited and completely deceived.”
Trump’s event at the Waco airport was part of a larger effort by the former president to use the potential indictment as a rallying cry for supporters to maintain his status as GOP leader in what is expected to be a crowded town hall. It came a day after Trump raised the specter of violence should he become the first former president in US history to face criminal charges.
Trump has pleaded not guilty in a Manhattan investigation into a secret cash payment made during the 2016 election to porn star Stormy Daniels to prevent her from publicizing a sexual encounter she said she had with Trump years earlier. follow. A grand jury looking into the case is expected to convene on Monday.
Trump said the Manhattan district attorney was investigating him “for something that’s not a crime, it’s not a misdemeanor, it’s not a relationship.”
Some of Trump’s recent rhetoric, including at the rally, echoed the language he used before the Capitol riot by a crowd of supporters trying to stop the handover of power to Democrat Joe Biden, who won the presidential election.
Trump said Saturday that his “enemies are desperate to stop us” and that “our adversaries have done everything they can to crush our spirit and break our will.”
He added: “But they failed. They only made us stronger. And 2024 is the final battle, it will be the big one. Put me back in the White House, their rule will end and America will be a free nation again.”
Brandon Bell via Getty Images
Trump could soon be indicted by a Manhattan grand jury investigating a $130,000 payment Trump’s longtime lawyer and fixer Michael Cohen made while Trump was battling his presidential campaign from 2016.
Trump later reimbursed Cohen, and his firm recorded the reimbursements as attorneys’ fees. Cohen has already served prison time after pleading guilty to campaign finance charges and lying to Congress, among other crimes.
The selection of the Waco giant for its first rally came on the 30th anniversary of a 51-day standoff and deadly siege between US law enforcement and members of the Branch Davidians that left more than 80 dead members of religious sects and four federal agents and became a touchstone for a long time. – right-wing extremists and militia groups.
The Trump campaign insisted that the location and timing of the event had nothing to do with the Waco siege or the anniversary. A spokesman said the site, 17 miles from the Branch Davidian compound, was selected because it is conveniently located near four of the state’s largest metropolitan areas — Dallas/Fort Worth, Houston, Austin and San Antonio — – and has the necessary infrastructure to manage a considerable area. crowd.
Lt. Gov. Texas Dan Patrick said before Trump arrived that he had suggested Waco as the site. Any suggestion that Trump chose the city because of the anniversary was “fake news. I chose Waco! he told the crowd.
Trump made no direct reference to the Waco story in his speech, telling the crowd of thousands that he told Patrick he wanted to hold his rally somewhere with overwhelming support, not “one of those 50-50 areas.” and said to Patrick, “Let’s get straight to the point.”
At several points, Trump criticized Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who is expected to run for president and is seen as his strongest potential challenger for the GOP nomination. Trump called his former ally disloyal and said he was “falling like a stone.”
Members of the public held up red and white signs distributed by the campaign that read “Witch Hunt,” “Trump 2024” and “I’m with Trump.”
Hours before Trump’s arrival, hundreds of his supporters began pouring into the airport past vendors selling merchandise including Trump flags, stickers and action figures.
Among them was Eugene Torres, 41, who said he was not bothered by the prospect of Trump being impeached.
“It’s just another political attack on him to prevent him from running and winning this race again,” said Torres, who is from the Texas coastal city of Corpus Christi.
Alan Kregel, 56, traveled with his wife from Dallas to see Trump in person for the first time. While she voted for Trump in 2016 and 2020, she said she believed the former president’s “methods and vocabulary” often influenced her policies. But now, after a two-year absence, he said he supports Trump more than ever.
“He’s an innocent man, just persecuted,” Kregel said, arguing that impeachment would help Trump win in 2024.
Trump has spent weeks criticizing the New York investigation, and in a Friday post on his social media website he warned of the “potential death and destruction in such a bogus allegation” if he is charged with a crime.
In a move that appeared designed to forestall an official announcement, he said on Saturday that he would be arrested the following Tuesday. Even though that didn’t happen, Trump used the following days to try to shape public perception, echoing a strategy he’s used before, including during special counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia investigation.
Trump also repeatedly called for violence, urging his supporters to protest, and used increasingly racist and dehumanizing rhetoric as he launched more personal attacks against Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg.
A powdered substance was found with a threatening letter at a post office in Bragg’s offices on Friday, authorities said. Authorities later determined the substance was harmless.
Even before the threatening letter was sent to Bragg’s office, Democrats warned that Trump’s remarks had the potential to incite violence.
“The rhetoric of the twice-impeached former president is reckless, reprehensible and irresponsible. It’s dangerous, and if it continues, it’s going to kill somebody,” said New York Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries.
In addition to the Manhattan case, Trump also faces an investigation in Georgia into his efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 election, as well as federal investigations into his handling of confidential documents and possible obstruction, as well as his efforts on January 6. .
Price reported from New York. Associated Press writers Paul Weber in Waco, Texas, Michael R. Sisak in New York and Sagar Meghani in Washington contributed to this report.
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