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Donald Trump’s felony criminal trial, in which he is charged with falsifying business records in an attempt to cover up a payment to a porn star, began on Monday.
Former President Donald J. Trump was due to hold a campaign rally on Saturday in Wilmington, N.C., in a battleground state that he won by just more than 1 percent of the vote in the 2020 presidential election. But it was called off late in the day because of weather.
It was planned to be Mr. Trump’s first major campaign event since his felony criminal trial began in New York on Monday. The former president has expressed outrage about the legal proceedings all week — he is required to be present for the duration of his trial, significantly limiting how much he can campaign while it continues. He is charged with falsifying business records in an attempt to cover up a payment to a porn star.
Mr. Trump has made a host of false and misleading claims about the trial to defend his conduct, attack the judge and prosecutors, and portray himself as a victim of political persecution.
But Mr. Trump’s rally was likely to be only a brief interlude in the saga of his New York criminal trial, the first ever for a U.S. president. The criminal case is just one of four hanging over him ahead of the 2024 presidential election. The three other cases are in pretrial proceedings, and it is possible that at least one of them could also go to trial before the election. Mr. Trump will need to return to New York by Monday, when lawyers will offer opening statements in the trial.
President Biden and his campaign have said little about the proceedings, with some exceptions focused on how Mr. Trump has appeared to fall asleep in court. This week, the president instead sprinted across Pennsylvania, a crucial swing state, attacking Mr. Trump as an out-of-touch plutocrat.
Mr. Biden has also escalated efforts to confront another presidential rival, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who secured a spot this week on the general election ballot in Michigan, ensuring that he could pull voters from both candidates in at least one crucial battleground state. The Biden campaign featured endorsements from a group of Mr. Kennedy’s relatives this week, highlighting the fact that Mr. Kennedy’s candidacy has estranged him from much of his famous political family.
Chris Cameron covers politics for The Times, focusing on breaking news and the 2024 campaign. More about Chris Cameron
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Source: nytimes.com
