Trump Doubles Down On His New Election Conspiracy Theory For 2024
Former President Donald Trump is going all in on his new election-related conspiracy theory: that almost every one of his legal problems have been personally orchestrated by President Joe Biden.
Even, apparently, the state-level cases.
“My legal issues, every one of them, every one — the civil and the criminal ones — are all set up by Joe Biden. Crooked Joe Biden,” Trump said outside a New York courthouse where his civil fraud trial was wrapping up Thursday.
“Every single, just about, case that I’m involved in was set up by Biden. They’re doing it for election interference,” Trump said.
He expressed similar sentiments Wednesday, when he predicted that his election loss would bring “bedlam.”
While Trump spent much of his time after losing the 2020 election complaining about supposed voter fraud, this time around he seems to have a new bogeyman.
The former president also appears to be employing one of his favorite tactics, taking something people are saying about him and spinning it around to use against his opponents. (Or as The New York Times recently put it, “I’m rubber. You’re glue.”) In this case, there is strong evidence that Trump really did meddle in the 2020 presidential election in order to hold onto power.
“Every time somebody sees me in court, remember, Joe Biden and his thugs that surround him did it,” he said at the impromptu press conference.
Trump’s legal problems, of course, go beyond his past attempts to overturn the will of the voting public.
His New York trial revolves around fraudulent business practices where real estate assets were allegedly inflated or deflated in value to help Trump skimp out on taxes or secure bank loans. One of the federal criminal cases against him stems from classified government documents that he is accused of storing improperly and insecurely at his golf resort home. And E. Jean Carroll, the writer who maintains that Trump once raped her in a department store dressing room, is suing him again for defamation.
Trump has so many legal problems that one reporter asked him what percentage of his time he expects to spend in court versus the campaign trail.
“In a way, I guess you’d consider it part of the campaign,” Trump said of his courtroom appearances. He generally takes time to comment to the media when he shows up at court.
Trump also spoke out in court on Thursday for several minutes in defiance of Judge Arthur Engoron, who had said Trump was not allowed to speak if he couldn’t agree to stick to relevant topics.
“I want to go to all of my trials,” Trump said outside the courtroom.
He added: “This is their new form of cheating.”
