Former President Donald Trump said on Saturday he would “never leave” the 2024 presidential race, even if he is convicted on any of the 38 felony charges issued against him in an indictment this week.
“I’ll never leave,” Trump told Politico. “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.”
Trump spoke with the outlet as he flew between speaker appearances at the Georgia and North Carolina Republican Party conventions.
Trump revealed his indictment on Thursday. The indictment stems from Special Counsel Jack Smith’s investigation into Trump’s handling of White House documents. This indictment marks the second one against the former president, after George Soros-backed Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg announced a grand jury returned an indictment on charges it pursued in a case alleging Trump falsified business records.
Republicans defended former President Donald Trump after the Justice Department handed down news of an indictment Thursday evening. https://t.co/sGR6vAewsc
— Breitbart News (@BreitbartNews) June 9, 2023
“These are thugs and degenerates who are after me,” Trump said speaking of Smith and other top brass within the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ).
Trump told Politico he does not anticipate accepting a plea deal, but left open the possibility of doing so “where they pay me some damages.”
“I don’t think I’ll ever have to,” Trump said when speaking on the possibility of pardoning himself if he wins the 2024 presidential election. “I didn’t do anything wrong.”
Trump mentioned his skyrocketing fundraising numbers since the indictment, but said he does not welcome the indictment.
“Nobody wants to be indicted,” Trump said. “I don’t care that my poll numbers went up by a lot. I don’t want to be indicted. I’ve never been indicted. I went through my whole life, now I get indicted every two months. It’s been political.”
Jordan Dixon-Hamilton is a reporter for Breitbart News. Write to him at jdixonhamilton@breitbart.com or follow him on Twitter.
COMMENTS
Please let us know if you're having issues with commenting.