Trump Claims ‘Every Right’ to Interfere in 2020 Election
By Jake Beardslee ·
September 2, 2024
Former President Donald Trump, in a late Sunday interview on Fox News's "Life, Liberty and Levin," reiterated his claim that he had "every right" to interfere in the 2020 election and asserted that the criminal cases against him are politically motivated. Mark Hoffman/Milwaukee Journal Sentinel / USA TODAY NETWORK
Speaking to host Mark Levin, Trump responded to Levin's suggestion that President Biden or Vice President Harris could have intervened in the federal election interference case. Gage Skidmore from Surprise, AZ, United States of America
"It’s so crazy, that my poll numbers go up. Whoever heard you get indicted for interfering with a presidential election, where you have every right to do it, you get indicted, and your poll numbers go up. When people get indicted your pull numbers go down," Trump said. Mark Hoffman/Milwaukee Journal Sentinel / USA TODAY NETWORK
Trump currently faces federal charges in Washington, D.C., for allegedly attempting to subvert the 2020 election results.
Additionally, he is charged in Georgia with racketeering and other state counts for allegedly scheming to overturn the state’s election results. Mark Hoffman/Milwaukee Journal Sentinel-USA TODAY Network
During the interview, Trump criticized the prosecution, stating, "Well, this is the worst case of election interference that anyone’s ever seen, certainly in our country. They do this in third world countries, they have some of it in South America, they don’t do it a lot, believe it or not. But they do it."
He added, "And it’s such a bad precedent because people are going to think about it differently, and they’re going to think about it differently. And it’s very sad, actually." Matthew Dae Smith/Lansing State Journal / USA TODAY NETWORK
Trump also accused the prosecutors of political bias. "They put people in the DA’s office," he said. "This was all coming out of the Department of Justice in order to get their political opponent — me." Ryan Garza / USA TODAY NETWORK
He further referenced Fulton County, Ga., District Attorney Fani Willis, stating, "She came up with this crazy scheme and a lot of people were hurt."
These remarks follow the recent filing of a superseding indictment by special counsel Jack Smith in the federal election subversion case. Alex Siltz/Pool via USA TODAY NETWORK
The Supreme Court's landmark immunity ruling in July has been a contentious point, as Trump has repeatedly claimed immunity from the charges.
The Supreme Court ruled that presidents have complete immunity for actions that fall within the core responsibilities of their office, and are "at least presumptively immune" for all other official acts. Mr. Kjetil Ree / Wikimedia
Trump has claimed he should be immune from the charges against him based on this precedent. Angela Wilhelm/Citizen Times / USA TODAY NETWORK
The Supreme Court's ruling sent the case back to a lower court to reevaluate whether Trump's specific actions on January 6, 2021 should be granted special protection from criminal prosecution.
The second grand jury also determined that the charges against the former president were justified. Mathieu Landretti / Wikimedia
