Donald Trump has accused President Joe Biden of running a "Gestapo administration" just days after the former president was held in criminal contempt for breaching a judge's gag order.
The Gestapo was the secret police force that thwarted political opposition in Nazi Germany.
Trump, who is facing the fourth week of his hush-money trial in New York, intensified his criticism of the U.S. justice system at a private event in Florida over the weekend. The ongoing trial requires the Republican nominee for the upcoming presidential election to be present in a New York courtroom for four days each week.
Trump, who is also facing dozens of criminal charges in four separate cases, claimed that he is a victim of the judicial system as he took aim at Biden during a 90-minute speech at a donor retreat in Palm Beach on Saturday.
"These people are running a Gestapo administration, and it's the only thing they have, and it's the only way they're going to win," Trump said. "But it doesn't bother me. If you care too much, you tend to choke," he added.
His comments were received with loud applause from the audience.
Both the White House and Biden's re-election campaign criticized Trump for the comparison.
White House spokesperson Andrew Bates said: "Instead of echoing the appalling rhetoric of fascists, lunching with Neo Nazis, and fanning debunked conspiracy theories that have cost brave police officer their lives, President Biden is bringing the American people together around our shared democratic values and the rule of law — an approach that has delivered the biggest violent crime reduction in 50 years."
"Trump is once again making despicable and insulting comments about the Holocaust, while in the same breath attacking law enforcement, celebrating political violence, and threatening our democracy," said James Singer, spokesman for the Democrat's campaign.
The Jewish Council for Public Affairs also criticized Trump's Nazi comparison.
"It's always wrong, offensive, and despicable to make comparisons like this — even more so when taken alongside the former president's long history of normalizing antisemitism. It is especially heinous to use Nazi comparisons in the service of a bigoted, authoritarian agenda," said Amy Spitalnick, chief executive of the public policy group.
