In an interview that aired late Sunday, former President Trump insisted he had “every right” to interfere in the 2020 election and repeated his claim that the criminal election interference case against him is politically motivated.
“It's so crazy that my approval rating goes up. When you're indicted for meddling in a presidential election, which you have every right to do, you get indicted and your approval rating goes up. When people get indicted, your approval rating goes down,” Trump said in an interview on Fox News' “Life, Liberty and Levin.”
Republican presidential candidate Trump was responding to host and lawyer Mark Levin's suggestion that President Biden or Vice President Harris could have told the attorney general to “fuck off” regarding the federal election interference case.
The former president faces federal indictment in Washington for allegedly trying to overturn the results of the 2020 election, and a separate indictment in Georgia on organized crime and other charges related to an alleged plot to overturn the state's election results.
“This is the worst election interference that anybody has ever seen, especially in our country,” Trump said in an interview with Fox News. “This is what happens in Third World countries, and some in South America. Believe it or not, they don't do it often, but they do it.”
“This is a very bad precedent because people are going to think differently about this, they're going to think differently about this. It's actually very sad,” he added.
He further alleged that those prosecuting the case against him are politically biased against him.
“They put people in the district attorney's office,” Trump said. “This is all coming out of the Department of Justice to get me, their political opponent.”
Trump also said Georgia's Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis “came up with this crazy scheme and hurt so many people,” referring to co-conspirators indicted alongside her in Georgia.
The comments came days after Special Counsel Jack Smith filed indictments last week in the federal election interference case following the Supreme Court's landmark immunity ruling in July.
The Supreme Court has ruled that the president has absolute immunity for acts that fall within the core responsibilities of his office, and “at least presumptive immunity” for all other official conduct. Trump has repeatedly argued that he should be immune from prosecution as a result.
The ruling sent the case back to a lower court to reconsider whether President Trump's actions on January 6, 2021, merited special protection from criminal prosecution. Smith presented the case to a second grand jury that had not previously heard the matter. The grand jury also concluded that charges against the president were legitimate.
Harris' campaign strongly condemned Trump's comments.
“Everything Donald Trump promised during his campaign, from 'repealing' the Constitution to jailing his political opponents to promising to rule as a dictator from day one in office, makes it clear he believes he is above the law. Now Trump is claiming he had 'every right' to interfere in the 2020 election. He did not,” Sarafina Chitka, a spokesperson for the Harris-Waltz campaign, said in a statement Monday.
“While Donald Trump is pushing a false history about our past, the American people want a new way forward,” she added. “They know that Vice President Harris is the toughest prosecutor we need to end chaos, fear and division and uphold the rule of law.”
Updated 3:31 p.m.
