Trump Pulls No Punches in First Rally Since FBI Raid

He calls President Biden an 'enemy of the state'
By Kate Seamons,  Newser Staff
Posted Sep 4, 2022 6:30 AM CDT
Trump Pulls No Punches in First Rally Since FBI Raid
Former President Donald Trump looks out into a crowd of supporters during a rally at the Mohegan Sun Arena in Wilkes-Barre Township, Pa., Saturday, Sept. 3, 2022.   (Sean McKeag/The Citizens' Voice via AP)

On Saturday former President Trump appeared at a rally for the first time since FBI agents descended on Mar-a-Lago, and the New York Times reports he gave an "aggrieved and combative speech." He was in Wilkes-Barre Township, Pennsylvania, and spoke two days after President Biden called him out by name in a prime-time address, saying "Donald Trump and the MAGA Republicans represent an extremism that threatens the very foundations of our republic." Trump responded directly to that, calling Biden's address "the most vicious, hateful, and divisive speech ever delivered by an American president."

"You’re all enemies of the state," Trump continued, then circled back to Biden. "He's an enemy of the state, you want to know the truth." The BBC reports Trump opened his nearly two-hour speech speaking not of Biden but of the FBI search at Mar-a-Lago. Trump said, "It was not just my home that was raided last month. It was the hopes and dreams of every citizen who I’ve been fighting for." The AP reports he called it "one of the most shocking abuses of power by any administration in American history" and "a travesty of justice. ... They’re trying to silence me and more importantly they’re trying to silence you. But we will not be silenced, right?"

Trump was speaking in support of two Pennsylvania GOP candidates, gubernatorial candidate Doug Mastriano and Senate hopeful Dr. Mehmet Oz. He set his sights on Oz rival John Fetterman, accusing him of taking hard drugs and calling out his casual dress: "I don’t like those dirty sweat suits, they’re disgusting. Fetterman may dress like a teenager getting high in his parents’ basement, but he’s a raging lunatic hell-bent on springing hardened criminals out of jail in the middle of the worst crime wave in Pennsylvania history," Trump said. (More President Trump stories.)

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