Donald Trump has appeared to threaten President Joe Biden with prosecution in a post on his social media platform, Truth Social. The former president raged against his successor over the various lawsuits and indictments he is facing, and warned Biden "the same can happen to you."
He wrote: "Why didn't Crooked Joe Biden tell his Injustice Department to file the lawsuits and Indictments against me 3 years ago, instead of right in the middle of my campaign for President? You're setting a BAD precedent for yourself, Joe. The same can happen to you. These Third World Biden Indictments, which should never have been filed, would have been tried and over with years ago. My SleazeBag Opponent shouldn't be able to do this during my campaign, OR BEFORE THE ELECTION!"
As well as two indictments on state charges, Trump currently faces charges in two federal criminal cases, one related to alleged attempts to overturn the 2020 presidential election and another in which he is charged with illegally hoarding classified files at his estate, Mar-a-Lago, and refusing to hand them back when asked.
In a follow-up post Trump added: "Why didn't they start the totally political BIDEN INDICTMENTS & COURT CASES Three (3) Years Ago, instead of the MIDDLE OF MY CAMPAIGN??? Third World Country-ELECTION INTERFERENCE!!!"
The former president has repeatedly denied wrongdoing and has said the prosecutions are deliberately aimed at derailing his presidential ambitions.
During a rally in Iowa on Sunday, Trump made a similar statement to that in his Truth Social post and accused the Justice Department under Biden of "cheating" and of targeting him for political purposes.
"They brought our country to a new level, and, but that allows—think of this—that allows us to do it to Biden, when he gets out," Trump said. "And that would be very easy."
He added: "But I don't want to do it. You know, once you do that, you've set yourself on a very downward, very bad path. Very bad path, but a thing like this has never happened before."
Trump also suggested he could have gone after Biden when he was in office, but said he didn't because "I had too much respect for the office to hit Joe Biden."
"And I would never have done that until they did something that's never been done. They indicted a former president," Trump added. "And the only reason they indicted me is that we're leading him in the polls. We're killing them."
Newsweek has contacted representatives of Trump and Biden for comment via email.
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Kate Plummer is a Newsweek reporter based in London, U.K. Her focus is on U.S. politics and national affairs, and ... Read more
