Devendra Kumar
Former US President Donald Trump has intensified his demands for Republican rivals to abandon their presidential bids, urging primary members of Congress to focus on investigating President Joe Biden and halt military aid to Ukraine. At a rally in Pennsylvania, Trump claimed every dollar spent attacking him by Republicans was a dollar given straight to the Biden campaign. He reiterated his stance that his rivals, including Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, are wasting hundreds of millions of dollars that could be used to build a massive vote-gathering operation.
Trump also accused his rivals of being “clowns” who are not taking on Biden aggressively enough, stating it’s time for them to clear the field. The former president’s comments came two days after federal prosecutors revealed new criminal charges against him, alleging he sought to delete surveillance at his Mar-a-Lago club to obstruct the Justice Department’s investigation.
Trump has embraced his legal woes, framing the charges as an attack on him and those who support him. He told the gathered crowd, “They’re not indicting me, they’re indicting you. I just happen to be standing in the way. Every time the radical left Democrats, Marxists, communists and fascists indict me, I consider it actually a great badge of honour… because I’m being indicted for you.”
Trump also threatened Republicans in Congress who refuse to impeach Biden, stating any member who doesn’t take action should be immediately primaried and lose his support. He also called on Republican members to halt military aid to Ukraine until the Biden administration cooperates with Republican investigations into his business dealings.
Trump’s comments come as he faces mounting legal challenges, including criminal charges in New York over hush money payments made to women who accused him of sexual encounters during his 2016 presidential campaign. His team is bracing for additional possible indictments related to his efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 election. The former president’s bid to return to the White House has centered on accusations that Biden is using the Justice Department to harm his political rival. The White House has repeatedly denied any involvement in the cases.