Trump says he’s ‘opposite’ of a threat to democracy

Former President Trump on Sunday claimed he is the “opposite” of a threat to democracy, pushing back against a longtime argument from President Biden in the wake of his hush money conviction.

“Now I’m leading over this guy (Biden)…. that can’t put two sentences together, that’s destroying our country. Look, he’s the worst president in the history of this country, and he’s a danger to the country,” Trump said in an interview with Fox News’s “Fox and Friends.

“And you know, they have misinformation – ‘Donald Trump is a threat to democracy’ – it’s just words. He doesn’t even know what it means. But it’s like their slogan, ‘I’m a threat to democracy.’ I’m the opposite. They’re the threat to democracy,” he continued.

Trump’s remarks come in response to the Biden campaign’s longtime assertion that Trump is a danger to democracy, which points to the former president’s rhetoric, impeachments in Congress and four criminal cases, one of which he was convicted for last week.

In a historic verdict last week, Trump was found guilty of all 34 counts of falsifying business records in New York, making him the first former U.S. president to become a convicted felon. The charges stemmed from reimbursements made to Trump’s onetime fixer and attorney, Michael Cohen, for a hush money payment made to adult film actress Stormy Daniels.

Last week, Biden’s communications director, Michael Tyler, pointed to the democracy argument when explaining why the Biden campaign held its first-ever press conference outside the Manhattan courthouse, where Trump’s hush money trial took place.

“We want to remind the American people ahead … of the first debate on June 27 of the unique, persistent, growing threat Donald Trump poses to the American people and towards democracy,” Tyler told reporters.

The Biden campaign pushed back against Trump’s assertion on Sunday. 

“Last time we checked, Donald Trump is the only candidate for president who tried to overturn the 2020 election, is promising to be a dictator on day one, and is threatening a ‘bloodbath’ if he loses in November,” Seth Schuster, a Biden campaign spokesperson, told The Hill 

Sentencing for Trump’s hush money conviction is scheduled for July 11, four days before the 2024 Republican National Convention in Milwaukee. The former president could face jail time, though first-time offenders on charges like Trump’s are rarely incarcerated.

Despite the former president’s mounting legal battles, he has maintained a razor-thin lead of 1.5 points over Biden, according to a polling index by The Hill and Decision Desk HQ.

This article was updated at 11:06 a.m.