‘mother Teresa Could Not Beat These Charges’: Trump Rails Against Justice System As Jury Decides His Fate

NEW YORK — As a panel of 12 New Yorkers began deliberating their verdict, Donald Trump embarked on a last-gasp effort to temper expectations.

Before being ushered into his dowdy 15th-floor defendant holding room on Wednesday, Trump approached news cameras and, without pointing to evidence, ran through his greatest hits of trial talking points. It was “weaponization.” It was “all done by Biden.” Trump has “every single legal scholar” backing him up. And even a saint likely wouldn’t escape a conviction in his hush-money payment trial.

“Mother Teresa could not beat these charges,” Trump said to a gaggle of reporters in the hallway. “These charges are rigged. The whole thing is rigged.”

Trump’s remarks, along with others he made throughout the day in person and in a barrage of posts online, signaled that he has accepted the possibility of a guilty verdict on at least some of the 34 counts brought against him in the Manhattan hush money payment case.

His team is already preparing to campaign on an acquittal or guilty verdict, according to a person with knowledge of the strategy, with a conviction only further fueling Trump’s claims that he is the victim of a Democratic conspiracy to keep him from returning to the White House. The person was granted anonymity to discuss the matter. Repeatedly, as he awaited news of a verdict, Trump labeled events in and out of the courtroom as “election interference.”

Moments before the defense, prosecution and reporters scurried back into the courtroom Wednesday afternoon to hear a question from jurors, a Trump fundraising email went out raising a dire possibility for the former president: “PATRIOT - I COULD BE IN JAIL TOMORROW!”

Between Truth Social messages thanking former boxer Mike Tyson for his support and calling actor Robert De Niro a “mentally challenged servant” of President Joe Biden (De Niro’s press conference the previous day was another example of election interference, Trump said), Trump had posted more than 50 times to his social media on Wednesday about the trial being a sham.

“KANGAROO COURT!” Trump posted while on his way to the courthouse in the morning.

“I DON’T EVEN KNOW WHAT THE CHARGES ARE IN THIS RIGGED CASE,” he added after exiting the courtroom midday.

“According to the Legal Scholars and Experts,” Trump wrote in the afternoon, referring to the conservative legal and political commentators whose opinions he has repeatedly touted, “the Jury Instructions, given by a highly Conflicted Judge, will go down as the most biased and unfair in Judicial History. Biden Witch Hunt. Election Interference!!!”

The judge on Wednesday delivered a set of lengthy instructions to jurors about how to apply the evidence that was presented to determine Trump’s guilt or innocence on 34 counts of falsifying business records — charges related to individual checks, invoices and ledger entries.

And then the jury went behind closed doors for the rest of the day to deliberate the historic decision, emerging only for the judge to discuss a request from them for additional information. Trump split his time between his holding room across the hall and the courtroom itself, flanked on Wednesday by his son Don Jr., in addition to his usual team of attorneys and campaign staff.

It remains to be seen how long the jury will deliberate the charges against Trump — a process that could finish as early as Thursday, or last well beyond this week.

Beyond criticizing the case at hand, Trump used his time in front of the cameras Wednesday — as he does at each campaign rally — to paint a picture of doom for the nation as a whole if he isn’t put back in the White House for another four years.

America? “A mess,” he said in the courthouse hallway.

America’s elections? “Fake.”

Venezuela? “They’re releasing all of their criminals into our country.”

De Niro? “A broken down fool.”

President Joe Biden’s staff? “They’re communists, but they’re smart.”

Biden and his campaign team, meanwhile, declined on Wednesday to weigh in on the trial or on Trump’s remarks as the former president awaited his legal fate. But less than a hundred miles away, at a campaign stop in Philadelphia to reach Black voters, Biden railed against Trump over other issues — namely, his past comments and actions on racial matters. Trump and his campaign have touted gains he has made this year with some voters of color.

“What would’ve happened if Black Americans had stormed the Capitol? I don’t think he’d be talking about pardons,” Biden said. “This is the same guy who wanted to tear gas you as you peacefully protested George Floyd’s murder. It’s the same guy who still calls the ‘Central Park Five’ guilty, even though they were exonerated.”

“Donald Trump is pandering and peddling lies and stereotypes for your vote so he can win for himself, not for you,” Biden added. “Well Donald Trump, I have a message for you: Not in our house, and not on our watch.”

Trump from the courthouse continued with his own bashing of Biden.

“We’re going to take back our country from these fascists and these thugs,” Trump told reporters.

“In the meantime,” he said, “this trial is rigged."

Myah Ward contributed to this report.