Fresh off his criminal conviction, former President Donald Trump held a press conference Friday morning in which he rehashed his gripes with the “unfair” trial and “tyrant” Judge Juan Merchan, while repeating the same old racist rants against migrants entering the country.
Speaking in front of reporters and an audience of supporters at Trump Tower, Trump said the witnesses called by his defense team were “literally crucified” by Merchan, whom he described as a “devil.” And Trump insisted again that he wanted to testify.
“The theory is you never testify because as soon as you testify, for anybody — if it were George Washington — don’t testify because they’ll get you in something that you said slightly wrong, and then they sue you for perjury,” he said. “I would have loved to have testified.”
Trump opened his remarks by railing against migrants, a topic to which he returned repeatedly. He baselessly claimed that “millions” of people were entering the United States from nonwhite countries, and that they were criminals and had mental health issues.
He also insulted President Joe Biden, calling him the “most incompetent president we’ve ever had,” and falsely claimed that his hush money trial was a plot orchestrated by his political enemies. In other words, it was the same old talking points. Trump is the first former president to be convicted of a crime, and he faces the possibility of prison time as he vies for a second term in the White House. In between campaign events, a debate against Biden and the Republican National Convention, Trump is due in court for his sentencing hearing July 11. Nothing in his rambling speech Friday reflected the gravity of the situation he is in. If anyone was hoping that being convicted by a jury of his peers would stir the slightest bit of self-reflection in Trump, his speech in the aftermath of his conviction proved them wrong.
Clarissa-Jan Lim is a breaking news reporter for MS NOW. She was previously a senior reporter and editor at BuzzFeed News.
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