FREELAND, Mich. (AP) — donald trump He briefly returned to campaigning on Wednesday and called the presiding judge. hush money trial He “perverted” a day after being detained for contempt of court and threatened with jail time for violating a gag order.
President Trump's comments at events in the battleground states of Wisconsin and Michigan have attracted attention since the presidential election. $9,000 fine A crime for speaking publicly about people involved in a criminal case. In imposing fines for posts on Trump's Truth Social account and campaign website, Judge Juan M. Marchan said he would “impose prison time” if Trump continues to violate the order. .
“There's no crime. I have a crooked judge. He's a completely inconsistent judge,” Trump told supporters at an event in Waukesha, Wisconsin, adding that this and other lawsuits are against Trump. He reiterated that the White House is leading the charge to weaken the campaign.
The former president is attempting to achieve a balancing act unprecedented in American history by running for a second term as the presumptive Republican candidate while fighting a felony charge in New York.playing cards chase often Marchand, prosecutors and potential witnesses at his rallies and on social media have played well with supporters but have attacked lines that could potentially put him in further legal jeopardy. .
Later, at a rally in Freeland, Michigan, he said he was being forced to spend days in a “kangaroo court,” claiming without evidence that district attorneys were taking orders from the Biden administration.
“I have to do two of these things in a day. You know why? Because I'm always in New York for the Biden trial,” he said. “This is a sham trial. They're doing it to try to take away your power and take away your candidacy.”
Even before his hush money trial began on April 15, Trump had held only a handful of public campaign events since becoming his party's nominee in March.
The gag order prohibits witnesses, jurors and some others involved in the hush money case from speaking publicly. Trump is still free to criticize judges and district attorneys.
Trump has insisted he was only exercising his right to free speech, but the offensive posts have been removed from his Truth Social account and his campaign website. Machan is considering other allegations of gag order violations and is scheduled to hear arguments on Thursday.
Associated Press correspondent Julie Walker reports that Donald Trump is on the campaign trail, not in court today.
Those present agreed that he was being unfairly prosecuted and argued that the trial and gag order were designed to distract him.
“This is a trial investigating a crime,” said Ray Hanson of Hartford. As much as Trump wants to talk about the trial, Hanson said he hopes Trump's lawyers will “keep him in line” to make sure he doesn't violate the gag order.
Manhattan prosecutors have alleged that Mr. Trump and his associates participated in an illegal scheme to influence the 2016 presidential election by buying and destroying negative articles. He pleaded not guilty.
President Trump's visit to Wisconsin and Michigan will be his second visit to the battleground states in just a month. In previous rallies, the former president has largely focused on immigration, calling people in the U.S. illegally or suspected of crimes “animals.”
Meanwhile, ahead of the trip, Democrats are hoping to remind voters of President Trump's position on abortion, which he openly worries will become a political liability for him and the Republican Party. .
Michigan's Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer met with six women, including their family doctors, on Wednesday to discuss how President Trump's second term would be He warned that it would threaten abortion rights. Citizens' right to procedure.
Whitmer appeared with a group of women at a bookstore in Flint, surrounded by signs reading “Stop Trump's Health Attacks” and “Stop Trump's Abortion Ban.” She told reporters she doesn't believe President Trump's claims. Time magazine interview Republicans will never have enough votes in the U.S. Senate to pass a national abortion ban.
“When it comes to abortion, you can't trust anything Donald Trump says. So yes, he wants to ban abortion, but he doesn't think we'll even get 60 votes in the Senate, so he “No one will be relieved to hear that it's not acceptable. Baloney,” she said.
Wisconsin and Michigan are among the few battleground states expected to decide the 2024 election.
To win both states, Trump will need to do well in suburban areas like Milwaukee and the Saginaw suburbs, Michigan, which he visited on Wednesday. Despite his lead among Republican candidates overall, he underperformed in suburban areas in this year's primaries.
Mr Trump is repeat falsehoods over and over again He said the 2020 election was stolen from him. Trump's losses in 2020 battleground states withstood recounts, audits and investigations by the Justice Department and outside monitors.
In an interview Wednesday with the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, President Trump did not promise to accept the results of the 2024 election.
“If everything is honest, I'm willing to accept the outcome. I'm no different in that respect,” Trump said. “If not, we must fight for our country’s rights.”
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Gomez-Riccon reported from Miami and Bauer from Waukesha, Wisconsin.
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Follow AP's coverage of the 2024 election. https://apnews.com/hub/election-2024.
