In the wake of his federal indictment and some calls to end his political campaign, Donald Trump vowed that he will “never leave” the race for the Republican presidential nomination.
The former president, who his facing 37 criminal charges in connection with his alleged mishandling of classified documents, made the comment on Saturday between stops in Georgia and North Carolina where he spoke at their Republican state conventions.
“I’ll never leave,” Trump told a Politico reporter in an interview aboard his plane. “Look, if I would have left, I would have left prior to the original race in 2016. That was a rough one. In theory that was not doable.”
“I didn’t do anything wrong,” Trump said.
Trump’s appearances in Georgia and North Carolina were his first since he announced the indictment on Thursday night on his Truth Social social media platform.
The indictment, which also charges Trump’s aide, Walt Nauta, was unsealed on Friday. Even some generally sympathetic Republicans and Trump allies called the indictment “damning.”
Trump, on the other hand, called the indictment “ridiculous” and “baseless,” and used his Saturday speeches to attack special counsel Jack Smith as “deranged” and “openly a Trump hater,” according to media accounts. He called the Department of Justice “a sick nest of people that needs to be cleaned out immediately,” according to the New York Times.
He spoke in apocalyptic terms, telling activists in Columbus, Ga., that “this is the final battle.” He personalized the indictment for his supporters, telling them, “In the end, they’re not coming after me, they’re coming after you.”
During his interview with Politico, Trump said he did not expect to be convicted, but may be open to a plea deal “where they pay me some damages.”
And while he claimed that his poll numbers and fundraising have surged since the indictment, he conceded that he was not happy about the development.
“Nobody wants to be indicted,” he said. “I’ve never been indicted. I went through my whole life, now I get indicted every two months. It’s been political.”
Trump was previously indicted in March in Manhattan in connection to alleged hush-money payments he made to a porn actress ahead of the 2016 election.
Trump is expected to appear in federal court in Miami for his arraignment on Tuesday. “SEE YOU IN MIAMI ON TUESDAY!!!” he wrote on Truth Social on Friday. Law enforcement in South Florida is ramping up ahead of the appearance after some social media posters have called for Trump supporters to rally in Miami.
Many Republicans have rallied around the former president, but not all have.
“While Donald Trump is entitled to the presumption of innocence, the ongoing criminal proceedings will be a major distraction. This reaffirms the need for Donald Trump to respect the office and end his campaign,” Asa Hutchinson, the former Arkansas governor who is running for president, wrote after news of the indictment became public.