
Former President Donald Trump called the case against him in Manhattan “rigged.” He made the remarks during a speech before reporters on Wednesday after presiding Judge Juan Merchan delivered instructions to the jury in his Manhattan hush-money case.
Trump made the remarks as he left the courtroom when reporters asked him about the coming verdict.
According to him, the trial is set up in a way that he would not be acquitted.
“I would say in listening to the charges from the judges, as, you know, very conflicted and corrupt because of the conflicting — very, very clearly, Mother Teresa could not beat these charges. These charges are rigged. The whole thing is rigged,” he stated.
“The whole country is a mess between the borders and fake elections. And you have a trial like this where the judge is so conflicted he can’t breathe. He’s got to do his job. And it’s not for me, that I can tell you. It’s a disgrace. And I mean that Mother Theresa could not beat those charges. But we’ll see. We’ll see how we do,” he added.
The Republican presidential candidate went on to note that Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg waited for years until the 2024 presidential election was close to move forward with the case after other prosecutors passed it on seven years ago.
He also brought up the campaign event held by the Biden campaign outside the courthouse on Tuesday, where actor Robert De Niro, a known anti-Trump campaigner, was recruited to speak against him.
“Then they have a protest with Robert De Niro yesterday who is a fool, a broken down fool. He got MAGA’d yesterday. He got a big dose of it. Remember, November 5, the most important day in the history of our country. In the meantime, this trial is rigged,” the GOP presumptive nominee stated.
During the Wednesday trial, Merchan finished with jury instructions before lunch. They were dismissed later that evening and will deliberate until they reach a verdict. So far, the deliberations have continued into Thursday and it remains unclear when they will decide on a verdict.
Per CNN, the jury instructions require them to “prove beyond a reasonable doubt every element of the crime” and not make a verdict based on speculation. They are also required not to make a decision based on biases or stereotypes among other instructions.
The instructions the jury have to follow is available online, however, the jury is not allowed access to the 50 pages of instructions in the deliberation room.
NBC’s Senior Legal Correspondent: “Trump's jury has 50+ pages of instructions to follow but the jury does NOT get this in the deliberation room” pic.twitter.com/kz82qloYh8
— Daily Caller (@DailyCaller) May 30, 2024