Former President Trump declared it is President Joe Biden who “should be in jail” and “be on trial,” while blasting the case against him and saying “the whole world is watching this New York scandal,” as he left court after the third day of his historic and unprecedented criminal trial.
The former president, shortly after a full jury was selected to hear arguments from his defense attorneys and Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg as he seeks to make his case, stood in the hallway of the courthouse and addressed the press.
Trump, the presumptive 2024 Republican presidential nominee, held a thick stack of news articles from a range of different news outlets and media organizations.
Trump said “every one of them” knows the case is “very unfair” and a “very bad thing.”
“The whole world is watching this New York scandal,” he said, calling it a “spectacle.”
“It is political and it is a shame—it is a shame,” he said. “And I am sitting here for days now from morning until night in that freezing room—everybody was freezing in there—and all for this.”
The former president blasted Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg as “out of control” and said Judge Juan Merchan who is presiding over the case is “highly conflicted.”
“The whole thing is a mess,” he said.
“Joe Biden—he’s the one that should be in jail,” Trump said. “He’s a crook. We’ve got a crooked president. He should be on trial with all the stuff he’s done in his family.”
Trump was seemingly referring to the Biden family’s business dealings, which have been under investigation by House Republicans. Those lawmakers launched an impeachment inquiry against Biden.
Hunter Biden is currently under investigation by Special Counsel David Weiss who has charged the first son twice, in two separate jurisdictions.
Trump again said Biden “should be on trial,” but said: “He’s the one in charge.”
Trump claimed that Biden’s “top people are here working with the DA’s office to make sure everything goes right.”
“But it shouldn’t go right because they have no case,” He said. “And that is what this is all about.”
Trump said that under Biden, the United States is “devolving into a Third World country, between having no borders, having no justice, and having a press that doesn’t want to cover the facts.”
Trump, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, has been charged by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg with 34 counts of falsifying business records in the first degree. The charges are related to alleged hush money payments made to adult film actress Stormy Daniels ahead of the 2016 presidential election.
Trump has pleaded not guilty to all counts. He has blasted the trial as pure politics, a “political persecution” and maintains his innocence. The former president is expected to testify during his trial.
“I tell the truth,” Trump said last week, when asked about his possible testimony.
Trump is the first president in United States history to stand criminal trial.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
