Donald Trump gave a bizarre press conference Friday on the morning after he became the first former American president to be criminally convicted, variously wheeling out his favorite gripes about his prosecution and bragging about how much money he’s raised in the wake of the verdict.
Speaking at a news conference at Trump Tower in New York City, the presumptive 2024 Republican nominee renewed his bogus claims that Joe Biden was responsible for his trial and insisted that he did nothing wrong. With his hair mussed, Trump nevertheless strangely claimed to have been “honored” to have been involved in the case and said he’d raised a “record $39 million in about a 10-hour period” following the verdict.
“It’s a very sad thing that’s happening in our country,” Trump said. “And it’s a thing that I’m honored—in a way I’m honored—it’s not that it’s pleasant, it’s very bad for family, it’s very bad for friends and businesses, but I’m honored to be involved in it because somebody has to do it.”
He explained that he was “honored to be involved because we’re fighting for our Constitution.”
After announcing his purported fundraising haul—which was several million dollars more than the $34.8 million his campaign said it had raked in from small-dollar donors in less than seven hours after the verdict—applause could be heard from Trump’s supporters in the room.
“So far, I guess it’s backfired,” Trump said, apparently referring to his prosecution.
This post was originally published on Daily Beast
