Donald Trump likened himself to late South African President and anti-apartheid icon Nelson Mandel — while also fantasizing about punching President Biden — during a lively campaign outing in New Hampshire on Monday.
Trump — who is battling charges he tried to thwart the 2020 US presidential election — implied that he wasn’t fazed about the threat of getting tossed behind bars like Mandela, who spent years in prison over his opposition to apartheid in his country.
“If you want to challenge the result of an election, they hound you,” Trump bemoaned during an event in Derry after formally filing to enter the state’s GOP presidential primary race.
“But we don’t get scared — we don’t get scared. I’ll tell you what, I don’t mind being Nelson Mandela, because I’m doing it for a reason,” Trump said.
The former president was revelling in the support he was receiving in a state where he enjoys a 30-point lead against his Republican foes.
The 77-year-old former president is facing a total of 91 criminal counts, including four for alleged federal 2020 election subversion and 13 for alleged tampering with Georgia’s 2020 election.
Should he get convicted, Trump could be detained for the rest of his life. Trump, who has pleaded not guilty to all charges against him, has previously insisted that he is willing to do jail time to save the nation.
“I am willing to go to jail if that’s what it takes for our country to win and become a democracy again,” Trump declared at a rally in Clive, Iowa, last week.
Despite lamenting his legal woes in New Hampshire, Trump basked over his favorable polling numbers compared to his 2024 GOP peers.
“Bad things are happening, but we keep going up,” Trump said.
Staying true to his dark tone about the current trajectory of the nation under President Biden, Trump also appeared to fantasize about giving the sitting president a knuckle sandwich.
He recalled how Biden once quipped, “I’d take [Trump] behind the gym and beat the hell out of him” if they were back in high school, while referencing Trump’s alleged derogatory past comments about women.
“I dream of that. You know what I’d do with him?” Trump asked the crowd as he threw a couple light punches in the air while making sound effects.”I’d hit him right in that fake nose. He’d have plastic lying all over the floor.”
Trump also slammed Biden for angering North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un, with whom the former president has touted his cozy rapport.
“Kim Jong Un of North Korea has tremendous nuclear capability. Everybody felt safe when I was president. You would’ve had a nuclear war if Hillary Clinton was there,” Trump said, referring to the former first lady and ex-Democratic presidential candidate he famously beat in a stunning upset to take the White House in 2016.
At one point during the raucous campaign stump, Trump conflated the leaders of Turkey and Hungary.
“I was very honored, there’s a man, Viktor Orbán. He’s the leader of Turkey,” Trump said.
Orbán is the prime minister of Hungary. Recep Tayyip Erdoğan is the president of Turkey.
Trump joins a growing list of his 2024 GOP peers who’ve registered for New Hampshire’s state primary, the filing deadline for which is Friday
GOP Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis was the first major candidate to file in the early primary state and is set to return Tuesday for a full-day tour alongside Republican Gov. Chris Sununu. A date for the actual primary has not yet been set.
Fellow Republicans former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott, North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum, former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, former Vice President Mike Pence and conservative entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy have all already filed in the Granite State.
Haley’s campaign hit Trump before he traveled to New Hampshire on Monday morning, pointing to reports that his camp is not paying for the local police presence while he travels around. Her campaign said she pays for local cop security coverage for herself.
“The Trump campaign owes $3,788 to law enforcement in Concord, NH, and $12,870 in Manchester, NH. If Trump refuses to pay, the cost will be borne by hardworking New Hampshire taxpayers,” the Haley campaign said in a statement entitled “Haley to Trump: Fund the Police.”
The Trump campaign did not respond to Haley’s claim.
Speaking to reporters while tendering his paperwork for the primary before his campaign event in Derry, Trump briefly opined on the speakership turmoil that has gripped House Republicans.
Trump downplayed reports of friction with House Majority Whip Tom Emmer (R-Minn.), one of nine Republicans jostling for the speaker’s gavel. Emmer refused to back efforts to decertify the 2020 election, and Trump allies have reportedly disseminated opposition research on him.
“He’s my biggest fan now because he called me yesterday and told me he’s my biggest fan,” Trump told reporters. “I’m trying to stay out of that as much as possible.”
Earlier this month, Trump mused about temporarily taking up the reins as speaker but has since appeared to abandon that idea.
“There’s only one person that can do it all the way. Do you know who that is? Jesus Christ. If Jesus came down and said, ‘I want to be Speaker,’ he would do it. Other than that I haven’t seen anyone that can guarantee it,” Trump joked.
