When Donald Trump holds political rallies, he gets a rush from the adoration of thousands of supporters. But oftentimes, he does himself harm by making outrageous statements.
This seemed to be the case during his Saturday night rally in Sarasota, Florida. Ignoring all kinds of legal advice, Trump decided to talk about the recent arrest of his former CFO Allen Weisselberg. And in defending Weisselberg, Trump seemed to implicate himself in the very same crimes alleged by New York prosecutors.
The former president told the crowd, “Come on. You didn’t pay tax on the car. Or a company apartment. You used an apartment because you need an apartment because you have to travel too far where your house is. Didn’t pay tax. Or education for your grandchildren.”
CNN‘s Brianna Keilar told viewers, “[Trump appeared to] acknowledge the merits of the case against the Trump organization and its Chief Financial Officer while denying those things are actually crimes.”
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The host then brought on legal expert J.W. Barrett, who formerly worked on Trump’s transition team. Barrett opined, “Well, he does have an awkward habit of not only making awkward admissions. This one could go either way. This is probably a clip that Cy Vance will play to a jury in a future prosecution, maybe even in the one against Mr. Weisselberg; I don’t know. It could go either way.”
Desperate for attention, Trump will continue to hold rallies throughout the summer. It is quite likely that he will keep talking about the case.
Todd Neikirk is a New Jersey based politics and technology writer. His work has been featured in psfk.com, foxsports.com and hillreporter.com. He enjoys sports, politics, comic books and spending time at the shore with his family.