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Written by James Oliphant and Gram Slattery
ATKINSON, N.H. (Reuters) – donald trumpWednesday’s schedule encapsulated the unprecedented nature of this year’s election, with a day spent fighting a defamation lawsuit in court and a night spent rallying his supporters to become the next U.S. president. .
That’s how the former president, a front-runner for the 2024 Republican nomination and the world’s most famous defendant, has chosen to divide his time this week as he pursues a political comeback.
Mr. Trump is not required to appear in federal court in Manhattan, and the judge warned that he could be kicked out if he interfered. His appearance in the civil proceedings is completely voluntary.
From there, he planned to spend Wednesday night on the campaign trail in New Hampshire ahead of the state’s Republican presidential primary next week.
This is an unusual strategy in unusual circumstances. That means leading presidential candidates are trying to win the White House while facing a barrage of federal and state criminal charges, as well as civil defamation and civil fraud trials.
But by going to court, Mr. Trump and his campaign have sought to thwart challenges from Republican rival Nikki Haley and others, while Mr. Trump’s loyal support I am acutely aware of the possibility of generating attention and sympathy among the political class. Ron DeSantis.
President Trump told the hundreds of people who lined up to meet him outside a country club in Atkinson, New Hampshire, on Tuesday night, saying, “Nobody else can accept this shit.” No,” he said.
There was endless applause from the crowd.
President Trump faces dozens of federal and state charges related to attempts to undermine the 2020 election, in addition to federal prosecutors alleging mishandling of classified documents. He has denied any wrongdoing and has pleaded not guilty to criminal charges, calling the incident politically motivated. The Justice Department says it acts without political bias.
The federal lawsuit Trump is appearing in this week is a civil lawsuit in which he denied harming his reputation and raping author E. Jean Carroll in 2019 during the damages phase of a defamation case against author E. Jean Carroll. The lawsuit alleges that the company should pay millions of dollars in damages. Almost a quarter of a century ago.
At a meeting in Atkinson, he complained about double commitments.
“No one has ever had to do anything like this before,” he said. “These people are shameful.”
split screen
Trump could have taken a victory lap in New Hampshire, a day after his landslide victory in the nation’s first caucuses in Iowa on Monday, defeating both DeSantis and Haley by about 30 points. Instead, he sat in a New York courtroom and observed jury selection in a defamation case.
He didn’t leave the federal courthouse building in lower Manhattan until midafternoon, writing on his platform Truth Social that he should have been in New Hampshire but “was forced to spend time in federal court with a radical leftist judge who hates Trump.” I couldn’t have done it,” he posted.
Meanwhile, supporters waited for hours in storm-hit New Hampshire after President Trump’s flight was delayed by weather.
“I tried to get in here and my butt froze!” said Phil Caron, 81, from neighboring Massachusetts.
It was the first Trump event for Kat Wiggins, 51, from Hampton, New Hampshire. She didn’t mind her wait.
“I’m absolutely thrilled,” she said, adding that she is on Trump’s side on legal issues. She said the 2020 election, won by Democrat Joe Biden, was “stolen.”
Trump took to the stage two hours late and excited the crowd by complaining about how difficult it was to get there. He said his flight was dangerous and the pilot advised against going into heavy snow and strong winds.
“Tonight was a little rough,” he said, suggesting he might not have been able to attend the rally at all. “That was a pretty big deal, wasn’t it?”
It was the kind of story the former president liked to tell on the campaign trail, dramatized for dramatic effect and casting himself as a burly hero against obstacles for his adoring fans. They ate it up.
E. Jean Carroll’s defamation trial is expected to be extended until at least next week, when President Trump is scheduled to travel between New York and New Hampshire on the campaign trail ahead of Tuesday’s primary.
The pattern of ping pong travel is likely to repeat throughout the election year.
President Trump’s federal trial in Washington related to election charges is scheduled to begin on March 4, the day before Super Tuesday, when contests for the Republican nomination will be held in 16 US states and one territory.
The New York case in which Trump was charged in connection with hush money payments to porn stars occurred in late March. A federal secrets trial in Miami is scheduled for May.
President Trump aims to finish winning the Republican nomination by then. New Hampshire, which has a mix of moderate and independent voters, is expected to face a tougher challenge from Haley than in Iowa. However, he remains the front-runner in the upcoming Republican primary.
Until then, he seems to want to make the most of his time in court.
(Reporting by James Oliphant in Atkinson, New Hampshire; Gram Slattery in Portsmouth, New Hampshire; Editing by Colleen Jenkins and Jonathan Oatis)
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