At a charged rally in Hialeah, Florida, which clashed timewise with the GOP’s third presidential debate, Donald Trump, the nation’s 45th president, delivered a fiery message to his supporters. Facing multiple indictments, he boldly reframed these legal challenges, expressing to the crowd, “Each indictment is worn by me as a badge of supreme honor.”
Trump, who has encountered four legal indictments since the spring — with half attributed to actions by President Joe Biden’s Justice Department — portrayed these legal battles as a stand-in for the fight against his supporters. “Whenever I receive an indictment, I view it as an ultimate honor, for it’s done in your name,” Trump declared, eliciting a wave of support from those gathered. He continued, “I endure these indictments for you. Remember, their goal is to strip away my freedom because they wish to strip away your freedom — that’s something I will never allow.”
He suggested that the true target of these legal actions is not him personally but the American people, with Trump himself being the obstacle in the prosecutors’ path. “They aim to silence me since they wish to silence you. I will not permit it. Ultimately, they’re not pursuing me; they’re after you. I’m merely in the way,” he added.
The former president is contending with two federal indictments from DOJ Special Counsel Jack Smith, one related to classified documents allegedly taken to Mar-a-Lago and another connected to his campaign’s actions post-2020 election and the January 6th events. State-level charges include business fraud allegations from Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg and racketeering charges related to the 2020 election challenge from Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis.
In total, Trump faces 91 counts across these cases, which cumulatively could amount to a maximum sentence that far exceeds the lifespan of the United States, a comparison drawn by Breitbart News’ Joel Pollak.
Dismissing the New York trial as baseless and an attempt to influence voter sentiment, Trump accused the White House of orchestrating these legal troubles. “Even that absurd trial in New York, now fully discredited — they’ve all been discredited — that’s coming from the White House,” he claimed. “Their goal is to deter voting. Their goal is to harm us.”
“Every time I’m indicted, I consider it a great badge of honor, because I’m being indicted for YOU.” — President Trump in Hialeah, Florida
Watch Trump's rally LIVE ?? https://t.co/BlshsrWxFr pic.twitter.com/KHHSYV5eeA
— RSBN ?? (@RSBNetwork) November 9, 2023
Trump closed by reaffirming the strength of his political movement, calling it “the most significant movement in political history,” and vowed that the voice of his movement would not be quelled.