On Monday, former President Donald Trump blasted the limited gag order that was issued against him by a federal judge in his Washington, D.C., criminal election interference case.
While speaking at a campaign event in Adel, Iowa, on Monday afternoon, Trump claimed the gag order was “so unconstitutional” and that his team would appeal the order, just hours after his campaign spokesperson called the order “an absolute abomination.”
“Today a judge put on a gag order. I’ll be the only politician in history that runs with a gag order where I’m not allowed to criticize people. Can you imagine this?” Trump said. “Do you believe this? I’m not allowed to criticize people, so we’ll see. We’ll appeal it and we’ll see but it’s so unconstitutional.”
The gag order by Judge Tanya Chutkan states that Trump cannot make statements publicly targeting prosecutors, including Special Counsel Jack Smith, court staff, or their families, or about witnesses and their testimony.
Trump compared himself to infamous American gangster Al Capone, before talking about his increasing support in spite of the four indictments and 91 charges against him.
“He was only indicted one time. I’ve been indicted four times,” Trump said, comparing himself to Capone. “And in addition, I have the civil trials that are all coming out of the Justice Department. They’ve weaponized the Justice Department and the FBI … This is like a banana republic but we’re going to be okay. … The good news is, I’m the only one that’s ever been indicted with the numbers went through the roof.”
Most national and state polls show Trump with a dominant lead over his GOP rivals, sometimes by 40-60%. A RealClear Politics poll shows Trump at 58.3%, while Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL), his top rival, polls at 12.9%. Outside of Trump and DeSantis, no candidates poll in the double digits.
Trump then claimed that the Department of Justice has a “weaponized” criminal justice system while speaking, and hit out at other politicians, primarily President Joe Biden, repeatedly slamming Biden’s handling of Israel’s conflict with terrorist group Hamas, claiming the fighting wouldn’t have happened under his watch.
Trump also slammed Biden’s prisoner exchange deal with Iran, which allowed $6 billion that had been frozen in South Korean banks.
“So the $6 billion is a lot. But the $6 billion is sort of easy to say because it’s so easy to understand, but the oil thing is far worse,” Trump said. “They still have the sanctions on but they don’t enforce them … sanctions are worthless if you don’t have a leader that’s going to enforce it.”
Last week, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen claimed that sanctions against Iran are possible.
“We have not in any way relaxed our sanctions on Iranian oil,” Yellen said at a news conference during the annual meetings of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank in Marrakesh, Morocco.
Trump also warned of the possibility of World War Three, after claiming the attacks against Israel could lead to attacks against the United States, pointing to young men crossing the southern border.
“There are a lot of strong young men, and they’re coming in and I say be prepared,” Trump said. “The one thing that we really have to be careful of is World War Three because we’re right on the cusp of World War Three. We’re so close.”
