Trump road tests election lies defence at rally in Pennsylvania – live

Jump to content Sign up to our newsletters Subscribe News Sport Voices Culture Lifestyle Travel Premium Close Trump says attorneys had ‘productive’ meeting with DOJ in Jan 6 probe Donald Trump appeared to try out a defence for his expected indictment on charges over the January 6 riot and the election lies that fuelled it when he appeared at a rally in Erie, Pennsylvania. The former president told the crowd that the 2020 election had been stolen ‘in my opinion’ – laying the ground to push back against accusations that he always knew he had lost to Joe Biden fair and square and arguing that he was entitled to claim the Democrats had cheated. Earlier, his $475m defamation lawsuit against CNN was thrown out by a federal judge. The former president made the assertion the news network’s description of his election fraud claims as the ‘big lie’ connected him to Adolf Hitler , the leader of Nazi Germany , Reuters noted. US Judge Raag Singhal at the federal court in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, was nominated by Mr Trump in 2019. In a Friday night ruling, he said CNN’s statements were opinion and not fact, meaning that they cannot be the subject of a defamation claim. 1690700400 Mr Trump took to Truth Social on Saturday to slam the federal prosecutors investigating him in multiple probes. ‘Why did the Radical Left Democrat Prosecutors wait so long to bring these ridiculous cases against me,’ he asked . ‘They could have been brought years ago but no, they waited to bring them in the middle of my campaign for President because that way they could Interfere and disturb my run for the White House. Two more coming, I guess? What they didn’t count on is the fact that the people of America understand these thugs and lowlifes, and my poll numbers have only gone up!’ Gustaf Kilander 30 July 2023 08:00 1690696800 Former President Donald Trump wrote on Truth Social on Saturday: ‘In Iowa last night I noticed that a little known, failed former Congressman, Will Hurd, is ridiculously running for President.’ ‘He quit Congress because it would have been impossible for him to win in his district – he did a really bad job. Anyway, he got SERIOUSLY booed off the stage when he said I was running ‘to stay out of jail.’ Wrong, if I wasn’t running, or running and doing badly (like him & Christie!), with no chance to win, these prosecutions would never have been brought or happened!’ he added. GOP presidential hopeful booed off for claiming Trump is running to stay out of prison Gustaf Kilander 30 July 2023 07:00 1690693200 Gustaf Kilander 30 July 2023 06:00 1690689600 Gustaf Kilander 30 July 2023 05:00 1690686042 Former Democratic Gov. Jay Nixon of Missouri is joining No Labels ‘ increasingly contentious effort to lay the groundwork for a moderate third-party presidential ticket in the 2024 election. He gives the embattled organization another prominent ally amid escalating concerns from Democratic officials that the No Labels campaign could unintentionally help Republican Donald Trump return to the White House . Nixon, a 67-year-old lawyer, is stepping back into national politics for the first time since leaving office in 2017 and will serve as No Labels’ director of ballot integrity. He said in an interview that he was drawn to the role after learning that well-funded groups aligned with Democrats were working to stop No Labels from securing ballot access in key states. He said that those seeking to block the group’s right to appear on the presidential ballot are attacking a pillar of American democracy. ‘What do I say to those Democrats? I say, ‘You’re entitled to your opinion. But we are also entitled to use our constitutional and statutory rights to allow Americans to have another choice,” Nixon told The Associated Press. President Joe Biden and Trump have dominated the 2024 campaign conversation so far. But No Labels, a Washington-based group that promotes compromise, national unity and centrist policy solutions, has been preparing for the strongest third-party presidential bid at least since Texas businessman Ross Perot earned nearly 19% of the popular vote in 1992. Former Democratic Gov. Jay Nixon of Missouri is joining No Labels’ effort to lay the groundwork for a centrist third-party presidential ticket in 2024 Steve Peoples, AP 30 July 2023 04:00 1690682442 Gustaf Kilander 30 July 2023 03:00 1690679742 GOP presidential hopeful booed off for claiming Trump is running to stay out of prison Benji Salmon 30 July 2023 02:15 1690677942 Gustaf Kilander 30 July 2023 01:45 1690676142 Donald Trump has already been indicted twice. By the end of the summer, he may be the subject of as many as four criminal cases. The latest episode in his legal peril appeared to be taking shape on Thursday 27 July, when the ex-president’s legal team met with the prosecution team led by Special Counsel Jack Smith in a last-ditch attempt to convince Mr Smith and his team from seeking another indictment against Mr Trump for his efforts to overturn his 2020 election loss to Joe Biden. That same day, the special counsel’s team hit Mr Trump with superseding charges in federal court in Florida. Officials accused the former president and an employee at his Mar-a-Lago club of attempting to destroy security camera footage once Mr Trump learned he was under subpoena in the investigation over his handling of classified documents. Earlier this month, Mr Trump said prosecutors notified him that he was also a target of Mr Smith’s investigation into efforts to overturn the 2020 election and the January 6 attack on the Capitol. The former president is understood to be facing the possibility of charges under three federal criminal statutes: Conspiracy to defraud the United States, deprivation of rights under colour of law, and witness tampering. The former president is at the centre of several federal investigations and criminal cases Andrew Feinberg 30 July 2023 01:15 1690674342 Gustaf Kilander 30 July 2023 00:45 Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump arrives for a campaign rally Saturday, July 29, 2023, in Erie, Pa AP Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in Please refresh your browser to be logged in