USA

Trump, in July 4 speech, says he ‘wasn’t treated that well’ despite American right to equal justice

President Trump said in his July 4th speech on the National Mall on Saturday that he “wasn’t treated that well,” citing his legal battles and felony convictions as it pertains to America’s right to equal justice under the law.

The remarks came as the president was speaking about the Constitution, “the fairest political document ever conceived.”

“250 years later, unlike many other countries in the world, in this country we have freedom of speech, freedom of religion, equal justice under the law; although I wasn’t treated that well, we won’t get into that,” he said. “But we’re not going to get into that. The right to keep and bear arms. And for almost six years that I’ve been president, I’ve protected your Second Amendment very, very strongly.”

Before his return to the White House last year, Trump was at the center of several legal cases, including election interference in Georgia, 2020 election interference, a hush money case in New York and those related to his handling of classified documents.

All other cases were dismissed except for the hush money case, in which he was found guilty of all 34 counts of falsifying business records to conceal payments to porn actress Stormy Daniels. He became the first president to be a convicted felon.

A judge found that Trump had increased his net worth to obtain more favorable tax and insurance benefits for his business empire and ordered Trump to pay a hefty fine. Although the verdict was valid, the $500 million penalty was later rescinded.

Trump is in the process of appealing his conviction, saying in a lengthy post on Truth Social last month that he was “an innocent man who was subjected to horrific treatment,” demanding that the conviction be thrown out and that the prosecutors behind the case face criminal penalties.

The president also released a statement suggesting that he is truly in his “third term” and not his second, an oblique reference to his false claims that the 2020 presidential election was stolen. These remarks came as he was talking about the military actions of the US armed forces and the second administration against Venezuela and Iran.

“During my first term, we rebuilt our army,” he began. “We used it quite a bit – actually I should say in our third term, but I’m not going to do that because I don’t want any controversy. But we used it and we had tremendous success. Look at Venezuela, look at Iran. We destroyed ––– we destroyed their military.”

Trump’s speech was the penultimate part of the “Salute to America” event held on the National Mall; where a severe thunderstorm warning forced the evacuation of the Great American State Fair and caused chaos on the streets of Washington, D.C. Guests were then allowed inside, and packed crowds returned as he spoke and the fireworks began.

His speech was more similar to a State of the Union address, as it was used to support some legislative priorities, including the Protecting American Voter Eligibility (SAVE America) Act. He also criticized the recent victories of democratic socialist candidates, conflating their politics with communism.

“It’s like a cancer, you have to cut it out, you have to cut it fast,” he said.

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