Trump in Iowa says indictments allow him to retaliate against Biden

Former President Trump said Sunday the federal indictments he faces will allow him to retaliate against President Biden if he beats the incumbent in the 2024 presidential election.

Speaking to a crowd of supporters in Iowa on Sunday, Trump railed against the criminal justice system and accused the Justice Department under Biden of “cheating” and of targeting him for political purposes — an unsubstantiated claim Trump has made frequently.

Trump compared the Biden administration to leaders of “banana republics.”

“They brought our country to a new level, and, but that allows — think of this — that allows us to do it to Biden, when he gets out,” Trump said to roaring applause from the audience. “And that would be very easy.”

Trump then tempered his threat, saying, “But I don’t want to do it. You know, once you, once you do that, you’ve set yourself on a very downward, very bad path. Very bad path, but a thing like this has never happened before.”

Trump also suggested he could have gone after Biden when he was in office, but he said he didn’t because “I had too much respect for the office to hit Joe Biden,” even though Trump said Biden was “the most incompetent president, the most corrupt president, the worst president we’ve ever had. Those are tough words.”

“And I would never have done that until they did something that’s never been done. They indicted a former president,” Trump added. “And the only reason they indicted me is that we’re leading him in the polls. We’re killing them.”

Trump currently faces charges in two federal criminal cases, two state criminal cases and in civil suits. While Trump has claimed the investigations into his actions were a result of his entrance into the 2024 presidential election, he was already under investigation when he announced he would run for president again.

Trump is the leading 2024 GOP candidate, but his jam-packed legal calendar throughout the next year raises some questions about his political fate.

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