Friday has been a busy day for Donald Trump—and it’s only halfway through.
The major headline is that the sentencing in the Manhattan case has been postponed to November 26, with Judge Juan Merchan issuing a ruling that delays the sentencing and his anticipated decision on the motion to set aside the verdict based on presidential immunity.
Earlier in the day, Trump attended oral arguments in his appeal of the E. Jean Carroll verdict (the first one) before the Second Circuit Court of Appeals. Afterward, he held a press conference at Trump Tower with his attorneys, Alina Habba and Will Scharf. Trump shared his thoughts on the Carroll litigation and other legal battles before giving the floor to his attorneys, who provided a thorough takedown of the case.
Trump returned to the podium to speak about the upcoming presidential debate with Vice President Kamala Harris, describing the September 10 event as “going into very hostile territory.”
“I’m going into very hostile territory shortly, in a debate with ABC—George Slopodopoulos and that group. And ABC, I think, is the worst of everybody. I think they’re the worst. They’re the nastiest; they’re as bad as you can be. They’re worse than NBC—which is saying a lot.
“And we have something coming—and the reason I’m doing it is because that’s the only one that she would do it with, because her best friend is the head of ABC or ABC News, and her husband’s best friend is married to that one.
“So… and Donna Brazille is there—you remember the famous Donna Brazille? She gave Hillary Clinton the questions—you remember that? That was a little embarrassing. She got fired—I assume for that. But now she’s working at ABC.
“So, I said, ‘I’ll do it anyway.’ Because even if she knows the answers and knows the questions, I don’t think she’ll be very good. And this is not what our country wants, and I feel I have an obligation to do it—and she’d never stand up here like this and give a news conference.”
Trump also addressed the increasing politicization of the justice system.
“This is the weaponization of justice at a level that nobody’s ever seen in this country before—we’ve never seen it. You see it in Third World countries, you see it in banana republics, but you don’t see it in the United States of America, and it’s a very sad thing. And I think I’m doing a great service by having gone through it and revealing it.”
He went on to say that the legal battles against him have, in some ways, worked in his favor.
“The only thing I can say that’s good about it is the public understands—and my poll numbers, I believe, are higher now than they would have been without it. Because the public understands it’s a hoax, it’s a scam, it’s a political witch hunt, and some of you should be ashamed of yourselves.”
Trump is now on his way to Charlotte, North Carolina, where he is scheduled to speak to the National Fraternal Order of Police at 4:00 p.m. Eastern.
