Donald Trump says if he decided not to run for political office the ‘persecution’ towards him would ‘immediately stop’

Former President Donald Trump claimed that Washington would leave him alone if he did not pursue the presidency again.

“If I announced that I was not going to run any longer for political office the persecution of Donald Trump would immediately stop,” Trump said at a rally in Prescott Valley, Arizona, Friday night. “But that is not what I do. I can’t do that, I can’t do that. Can’t do that. Because I love this country and I love you.”   

In its final hearing for the summer on Thursday, the House select committee looking into the assault on the U.S. Capitol on January 6 focused on Trump’s failure to take any steps to ask the rioters who had taken over the Capitol to leave. But the testimony of Cassidy Hutchinson, a former assistant, a few weeks earlier was what he brought up on Friday.

“Made up the story, fiction,” Trump said, referring to her statement that he had tried to grab the wheel of a presidential vehicle on Jan. 6, 2021, and demanded that Secret Service drive him to the Capitol, where the rioting had begun. 

Trump told the crowd of about 5,000, “They are coming for me because I am standing up for you,” adding that America is “doomed” and was at risk of becoming a bigger version of Cuba.

In spite of his criticism of President Biden’s handling of the economy and the American withdrawal from Afghanistan, but argued that RINOS — “Republicans in name only” — are worse than Democrats. Reiterating several times his false claim that he won the 2020 election, Trump hinted at a 2024 run. “I might have to do it again,” he said.

He lambasted Arizona’s Republican House Speaker Rusty Bowers as well as the state’s Republican Governor Doug Ducey. The state GOP censured Bowers this week for telling the committee on January 6 about Trump’s attempts to convince him to assist rig the election by substituting phony Trump electors for Mr. Biden’s. The former president called Bowers a “RINO coward.” 

“He disgraced himself and the state of Arizona,” Trump said of Bowers.

Trump traveled to Arizona to assist Blake Masters, a candidate for the Senate, and governor candidate Kari Lake.

When Trump brought Lake onto the stage during his speech, she declared, “We need superman to save us,” and added, “For the record, I do believe superman is coming back.” 

As per Cbsnews, Trump referred to Lake as “fierce” and suggested that she will vigorously defend electoral integrity. Lake has been making misleading claims about the 2020 election being stolen from Trump, and she still does. He then presented Masters Masters, who informed the gathering that 2022 might have been Hillary Clinton’s sixth term in office and claimed that Trump “literally saved this country.” The crowd immediately began chanting, “Lock her up.”

The former president urged supporters to vote in the Aug. 2 primary and pushed them to vote early. He later said that there should be same-day voting using paper ballots — although Arizona already uses paper ballots in its elections.