Before departing from Washington DC after being arraigned on four federal charges, former president Donald Trump gave quick remarks in which he claimed the capitol had “filth”, “decay” and “broken buildings”.
Mr Trump made a quick appearance at the nation’s capital on Thursday so he could appear in federal court to be formally charged with four counts related to his alleged efforts to overturn the 2020 election and subsequent January 6 attack on the Capitol.
“This is a very sad day for America,” Mr Trump told reporters before departing on his private plane to New Jersey.
The ex-president has continuously claimed he is innocent and that the indictment, brought forth by Special Counsel Jack Smith’s investigation, is a politically-motivated action.
But unlike his previous post-arraignment speeches, Mr Trump chose to direct most of his statement toward Washington DC’s environment.
“It was also very sad driving through Washington DC and seeing the filth and the decay and all of the broken buildings and walls and the graffiti,” Mr Trump said. “This is not the place that I left. It’s a very sad thing to see it.”
Mr Trump spent approximately two hours in Washington DC, most of which was spent inside the E Barrett Prettyman Federal Courthouse.
The ex-president pleaded not guilty to the four counts he was indicted on; conspiracy to defraud the United States, conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding, conspiracy against rights and obstruction of, and attempt to obstruct, an official proceeding.
The charges stem from Mr Smith’s probe into Mr Trump’s rhetoric in the days leading up to the January 6th attack on the Capitol, including Mr Trump’s false claims of election fraud.
The most recent indictment alleges that Mr Trump knowingly spread lies that there was election fraud in 2020 and he actually won.
“These claims were false, and the Defendant knew that they were false. But the Defendant repeated and widely disseminated them anyway – to make his knowingly false claims appear more legitimate, crate an intense national atmosphere of mistrust and anger, and erode public faith in the administration of the election,” the indictment reads.
Despite the serious allegations, Mr Trump’s post-arraignment speech made little mention of the implications he is facing.
“When you look at what’s happening this is a persecution of a political opponent. This was never supposed to happen in America. This is the persecution of the person that’s leading by very, very substantial numbers in the Republican primary and leading Biden by a lot so if you can’t beat them you persecute them or prosecute ‘em,” Mr Trump said before departing on his plane.
