'Ridiculous, Baseless': Trump's Outburst In First Public Appearance Since Indictment In Classified Documents Case

Donald Trump alleged that his indictment by the Department of Justice was an attempt to damage his chances for reelection to the White House as he campaigns for the second term. 

Former US President Donald Trump during event in North Carolina

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Former US President Donald Trump on Saturday lambasted his historical federal indictment as “ridiculous” and “baseless” during his first public appearance after the charges were terming the judgment as an attack on his supporters in an attempt to turn the dire legal peril into a political advantage and project a sense of normalcy. He alleged that the indictment by the Department of Justice was being done to damage his chances for reelection to the White House as he campaigns for the second term. 

“They’ve launched one witch hunt after another to try and stop our movement, to thwart the will of the American people,” Trump alleged while speaking at Republican state conventions in Georgia and North Carolina, reported the Associated Press. 

“In the end, they’re not coming after me. They’re coming after you," he added. 

He vowed to remain in the race even if he is convicted in the case. 

“I’ll never leave,” Trump said in an interview with Politico. “Look, if I would have left, I would have left before the original race in 2016. That was a rough one. In theory that was not doable," he added. 

On Friday, the Republican leader was charged with his alleged illegal retention of national security documents becoming the first among sitting or former US presidents to ever be faced with federal charges.  

The charges include willful retention of national security material, obstruction, and conspiracy and came more than a year after federal prosecutors began investigating him for knowingly retaining the classified materials at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida after he left the White House, the Guardian reported.

However, Trump reiterated that he was innocent and that he had been summoned to appear at a federal court in Miami on Tuesday afternoon. 

In a post on Truth Social, a social media platform created by him, Trump said, "I never thought it possible that such a thing could happen to a former President of the United States," he wrote, adding, "This is indeed a dark day for the United States of America. We are a country in serious and rapid decline, but together we will Make America Great Again!"