Donald Trump encourages protest ahead of his suspected arrest

Democrat leaders have slammed Donald Trump’s erratic social media activity, even suggesting the former president is inciting January 6-style violence.

Democrat leaders have issued a scathing assessment of Donald Trump’s recent call for Americans to take to the streets in protest, going as far as to suggest the former president is inciting violence in the style of the January 6 insurrection.

Mr Trump sparked uproar late on Saturday when he called on Americans to protest against his successor Joe Biden, who he said was leading the US into another World War.

“It’s time!!! We are a nation in steep decline, being led into World War III by a crooked politician who doesn’t even know he’s alive, but who is surrounded by evil & sinister people who, based on their actions on defunding the police, destroying our military, open borders, no voter I.D., inflation, raising taxes, & much more, can only hate our now failing USA,” Mr Trump said in a string of erratic, all-capitalised social media posts to his platform Truth Social.

“We just can’t allow this anymore. They’re killing our nation as we sit back & watch. We must save America! Protest, protest, protest!!!”

Former speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi led the response early on Sunday, condemning Mr Trump in a series of lashing tweets.

Nancy Pelosi called Mr Trump “reckless”. Others suggested he was inciting violence in the style of January 6. Picture: Brendan Smialowski / AFP

“Whatever the Grand Jury decides, its consideration makes clear: no one is above the law, not even a former President of the United States,” the California congresswoman wrote.

“The former president’s announcement this morning is reckless: doing so to keep himself in the news & to foment unrest among his supporters.

“He cannot hide from his violations of the law, disrespect for our elections and incitements to violence. Rightfully, our legal system will decide how to hold him accountable.”

Fellow congressman Eric Swalwell echoed: “His goal is acts of violence in his name. And we must be prepared to protect against it.”

It was Michael Cohen, Mr Trump’s own former lawyer and fixer, however, who tackled the insinuation head-on.

It was Donald Trump who broadcasted to the world the FBI raided his home to retrieve top secret documents. And it’s Donald Trump who has broadcasted to the world that he’ll soon be arrested. His goal is acts of violence in his name. And we must be prepared to protect against it.

— Rep. Eric Swalwell (@RepSwalwell) March 18, 2023

“Donald’s post is eerily similar to his battle cry prior to the January 6th insurrection; including calling for protest,” Mr Cohen told the New York Post in a statement.

“By doing so, Donald is hoping to rile his base, witness another violent clash on his behalf and profit from it by soliciting contributions.”

Mr Trump, meanwhile, is re-sharing earlier Truth Social posts on the issue, in which he made the extraordinary claim that he expected to be arrested in a matter of days.

““Illegal leaks from a corrupt & highly political Manhattan district attorney’s office … indicate that, with no crime being able to be proven … the far & away leading Republican candidate & former president of the United States of America, will be arrested on Tuesday of next week,” Mr Trump wrote.

“Protest, take our nation back!”

The last time Mr Trump publicly called on the American people to protest against Mr Biden was during a fiery speech given on January 6, 2021 when he addressed a group of supporters he said would “peacefully and patriotically” march to the US Capitol. Shortly thereafter, many of those supporters stormed and briefly occupied the building in an attack that claimed at least one life.

Mr Trump is being sued by Capitol Police officers and Democratic politicians over his role in the insurrection. He has not been criminally charged.

Donald Trump believes he is just days away from being arrested. Picture: Scott Olson/Getty Images North America / Getty Images via AFP

The former president’s arrest suspicions relate to evidence presented earlier this year to a grand jury by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s office. The grand jury was in the process of investigating an almost A$200,000 (USD$130,000) payment made by Cohen to porn star Stormy Daniels.

The payment was allegedly made during Mr Trump’s 2016 campaign. Cohen was sentenced to three years in prison in 2018 on federal charges related to the payment. He pleaded guilty but said he had been carrying out Trump’s orders.

Ms Daniels claimed she had an affair with Mr Trump a decade earlier, which the former president has denied happening.

She met with prosecutors on Wednesday and “agreed to make herself available as a witness, or for further inquiry if needed,” according to her lawyer Charles Brewster.

Mr Trump has also received an invitation to testify, which legal experts say is a sign that an indictment is near. His legal team has told CNBC that Mr Trump would surrender to face criminal charges if he was indicted.

Mr Trump’s lawyer Susan Necheles indicated that her client’s posts were based on media reports and not on any fresh action taken by prosecutors.

“Since this is a political prosecution, the District Attorney’s office has engaged in a practice of leaking everything to the press, rather than communicating with President Trump’s attorneys as would be done in a normal case,” Ms Necheles said in a statement to AFP.

Cohen, however, disputed this, claiming there was “no reason” for Mr Trump to fire off the extraordinary posts unless he had been contacted by prosecutors and advised of a potential arrest.

President Donald Trump will be arrested on Tuesday because how else can they turn the attention away from their own corrupt criminal behavior #ArrestingTrump#TakeOurNationBackpic.twitter.com/Lac7vQOKfB

— darkmode.eth (@legendzent) March 18, 2023

Mr Trump went as far as to accuse the Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s office of corruption in relation to the case.

He shared a screenshot of a tweet from right-wing media personality John Cardillo that claimed: “NYC law enforcement sources telling me that the Manhattan DA’s office is ‘in chaos.’

“They’re telling me about 60% of the office wants no part of this and wishes Bragg and (Mr Bragg’s chief assistant Meg) Reiss would just stop the nonsense. They all know there is no crime. Apparently all being driven by a small group of radicals at the top.”

Republican House Speaker Kevin McCarthy reacted to Mr Trump’s claims with fury, accusing New York prosecutors of pursuing “political vengeance” against the former president and saying he would launch a congressional probe of the matter.

Mr Trump, who held office from 2017 to 2021, has remained adamant on a return to being the country’s president in 2024.

He is facing several criminal probes at state and federal level over possible wrongdoing before, during and after his term in office that threaten his new run at the White House.

Mr Trump’s arrest fears relate to a payment made by his former lawyer to porn star Stormy Daniels. Picture: Ethan Miller / Getty Images / AFP

In Georgia, a prosecutor is investigating Mr Trump and his allies’ efforts to overturn his 2020 election loss in the southern state. The grand jury in that case has recommended multiple indictments, the forewoman revealed last month.

The former president is also the subject of a federal probe into his handling of classified documents as well as his possible involvement in the January 6, 2021, assault on the US Capitol.

The payment to Ms Daniels, if not properly accounted for, could result in a misdemeanour charge against Mr Trump related to falsifying of business records. That might be raised to a felony if the false accounting was intended to cover up a second crime, such as a campaign finance violation, The New York Times has reported.

The indictment would make Mr Trump the first former US president to be charged with a crime and would send political shockwaves as he tries to secure the Republican nomination for the 2024 presidential election.

Some observers believe an indictment bodes ill for his 2024 chances, while others speculate that it could on the contrary serve as a huge boost.

“The arrest secures the nomination for Donald Trump,” tweeted Rick Wilson, a political strategist who quit the Republican Party in protest over Trump.

“The base will rally politically, and possibly physically. (Let me know how that goes.)”

Tech billionaire Elon Musk, who overturned the Twitter ban on Trump in the name of free speech, went even further.

“If this happens, Trump will be re-elected in a landslide victory,” Musk said in a tweet.

Trump called a new campaign rally in Texas on March 25

— with AFP

Originally published as Donald Trump encourages protest ahead of his suspected arrest