COLUMBIA, S.C. ― Donald Trump said on the eve of South Carolina’s GOP presidential primary that his criminal indictments ― he faces 91 charges across multiple cases ― are boosting his appeal with Black voters.
Addressing the Black Conservative Federation’s Honors Gala on Friday evening, the former president brushed off the federal and state charges he faces over his efforts to overturn an election he lost and his handling of classified information, dismissing them yet again as politically motivated.
“I got indicted for nothing — for something that is nothing,” Trump said to applause.
“And a lot of people said that that’s why the Black people like me, because they’ve been hurt so badly and discriminated against. And they actually viewed me as I’m being discriminated against. It’s been pretty amazing. Possibly — maybe there’s something there,” he added.
Trump ― who has a long history of racism, pushed a racist conspiracy theory against the nation’s first Black president, and sought to throw out millions of votes in predominantly Black areas amid the 2020 presidential election ― went on to praise the efforts of civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr.
“We share the dream of Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. He was great,” Trump told the audience of Black conservatives in Columbia.
“Every time the radical-left Democrats, Marxists, communists and fascists indict me, I consider it a great, great badge of honor. Because I’m being indicted for you, the American people. I’m being indicted for you, the Black population. I’m being indicted for a lot of different groups by sick people.”
Earlier in the day, Trump held a raucous rally in nearby Rock Hill that was attended by thousands of predominantly white supporters. The 2024 presidential candidate’s pitch at that event was similar, though he invoked a different historical figure when speaking about his many criminal indictments.
“I’ve been indicted more than Alphonse Capone,” Trump boasted at the rally, referring to the notorious Chicago gangster of the Prohibition era. “If I fly over a blue state, the next day I get a federal grand jury.”
He added: “They indicted me on bullshit. It’s all bullshit.”
The Rock Hill event was attended by South Carolina’s governor as well as several members of the state’s congressional delegation, including Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.), who is the lone Black Republican in the Senate. Trump heaped praise on Scott, who dropped out of the 2024 GOP race last year and endorsed him.
Scott, Trump said, is “a better representative for me than he is for himself,” prompting a standing ovation for the senator, who is in the mix as a possible Trump vice presidential nominee.
Attendees of the event in Rock Hill said that they weren’t bothered by the former president’s criminal indictments, echoing his remarks about being politically persecuted.
“I don’t see how the country’s that stupid that they’re going to let this continue on when you have a victimless crime. Come on. How stupid is that?” said Mike Kane, a 66-year-old retiree from the South Carolina city. “The public is going to eventually ― come on, we’re not that stupid. They spin everything the opposite in the press.”
“Is he a perfect guy? Of course not,” added Doug Smith, a 53-year-old postal worker from Rock Hill. “Has he done something wrong? I don’t know. I’m not a legal scholar. But I just feel like he cares about the average person.”
