Trump accuses FBI of corruption and election interference at first rally since raid

Washington: Donald Trump has used his first rally since his Mar-a-Lago home was raided to launch a searing attack on the FBI, branding the search as election interference and accusing the Biden administration of “one of the most shocking abuses of power in American history”.

Two days after Joe Biden accused Trump’s supporters of being a grave threat to democracy, the former US president also labelled his successor as “an enemy of the state” for delivering what he described as a “vicious, hateful and divisive speech” designed to alienate millions of Americans.

Donald Trump criticised the FBI raid on his home at the rally in Wilkes-Barre.Credit:AP

Biden’s prime-time address, delivered in Philadelphia on Thursday night, was his most aggressive yet, accusing extremist forces loyal to Trump – known as MAGA (Make America Great Again) Republicans – of taking America backwards.

However, speaking in the critical battleground of Pennsylvania, Trump told his followers that “the MAGA movement is the greatest movement in the history of our country” and hinted that he was likely to run for president again in 2024 to “save America”.

“I may just have to do it again,” he said, repeating his false claim that the 2020 election was rigged.

The grievance-filled two-hour filled speech took place just outside Biden’s hometown of Scranton, Pennsylvania, setting the scene for what is likely to be a fiery last two months of campaigning before the November 8 midterm elections.

Supporters of former president Donald Trump wave their Make America Great Again hats at the Pennsylvania rally.Credit:AP

Trump had travelled to the swing state to promote the two candidates he had endorsed for the midterms: celebrity doctor Mehmet Oz, who is running for the Senate against progressive Democrat John Fetterman; and far-right politician and election denier Doug Mastriano, who is vying to be governor against the state’s attorney general Josh Shapiro.

But the stakes are also high for Trump himself, whose dominance of the Republican Party comes amid escalating legal challenges, such as the FBI’s seizure of classified documents last month, his role in the January 6 Capitol attack, and investigations into his personal and business finances.

Despite all this, Trump was as defiant as ever, revving up his base with everything from calls for the death penalty for drug dealers; the need to get rid of “critical race theory” in schools; and discriminatory sentiments against transgender athletes.

His angriest attack was on the FBI raid itself, claiming that “what the FBI did was corruption and election interference on a scale that we have never seen before in our country”.

“Just a few weeks ago, you saw one of the most shocking abuses of power by any administration in American history,” Trump said.

“We’re like a third world nation. They rifled through the First Lady’s closet drawers and everything else, and even did a deep and ugly search of the room of my 16-year-old son, leaving everything they touched in a far different condition than it was when they started. Can you believe it?”

The August 8 search took place after the Justice Department began investigating Trump because it believed he had unlawfully taken documents from the White House, including material that could compromise global intelligence sources and some of the nation’s top secrets.

Since then, the department has issued a court filing that makes it clear that the investigation into Trump goes well beyond allegations of mishandling government documents, but rather, lays out a case for potential obstruction of justice against the former president and his aides.

Neither Biden nor Trump are on the ballot for the midterms, which tend to be a referendum on the president of the day. However, with Biden struggling for much of this year over record high inflation, soaring gas prices, and his overall leadership abilities, the White House has sought to make the election a referendum that is largely on Trump himself, knowing that the Democrats are more likely to be activated to turn out in force at the polls.

Pennsylvania is shaping up to be the ultimate battleground state because it is viewed as the Democrats’ best chance of flipping a seat in the Senate, which could help them retain their wafer thin majority in the all-important chamber.

In a sign of its importance, Biden will return to Pennsylvania on Monday for a Labour Day speech in Pittsburgh – his third in the state week.

Trump, meanwhile, also used his rally to urge Republicans to vote, telling them: “We are just a few months away from the most important midterm election in American history.

“We need a landslide so big …. This is the year we’re going to take back the House, we’re going to take back the Senate – and we’re going to take back America. ”

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