Former President Donald Trump took jabs at President Joe Biden and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis during a live interview at a Spanish-language conservative radio station on Monday evening — a day before his first court appearance in Miami where he has been charged with illegally retaining classified documents and obstructing a federal investigation.
Media personality Carines Moncada led the Trump-friendly live interview in English from the Miami-based Americano Media’s studios and Radio Libre 790 AM, launched in 2022 with the promise of appealing to a growing segment of Republican Latinos. Trump phoned in hours after arriving at the Trump National Doral Miami hotel Monday afternoon.
The hearing is scheduled for 3 p.m. at the Wilkie D. Ferguson U.S. Courthouse, 400 North Miami Ave., in downtown Miami. Trump faces 37 felony charges related to allegations that he illegally kept classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago estate and obstructed the FBI’s efforts to investigate.
Here’s what the federally-indicted president had to say:
‘They are working together’
“Is the Department of Justice doing President Biden’s bidding? Is President Biden responsible for what’s happening?” Moncada asked Trump at the beginning of the interview.
“Well, absolutely,” Trump said. “They are working together.”
In November 2022, U.S. Attorney General Merrick B. Garland appointed Jack Smith, a former career Justice Department prosecutor, as special counsel to oversee two ongoing criminal investigations. Smith also was chief prosecutor at the International Criminal Court at The Hague in the Netherlands, where he investigated and prosecuted war crimes.
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In Washington D.C., the Smith-led investigators are probing whether any person or entity unlawfully interfered with the transfer of power following the 2020 presidential election or the certification of the Electoral College vote held on Jan. 6, 2021. And in South Florida, they are looking into whether Trump illegally kept classified records, while also obstructing the federal investigation.
‘We are beating DeSanctimonious’
The one-term president then explained his theory on why he’s been criminally charged, and took a jab at Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis who, like Trump, is running to become the Republican Party’s presidential nominee ahead of the 2024 presidential elections. Trump referred to DeSantis as “DeSanctimonious.”
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“You’ve probably seen we are beating DeSanctimonious, they call him, by a lot, like by 35, 40, 50 points in some polls,” Trump said. “And we are beating Biden by 10 points, 11 points, 12 points... we are beating him very easily.”
“They are using this because they can’t win the elections fairly and squarely.”
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But there is no evidence that Trump was indicted for political reasons.
On Thursday, it was revealed that a grand jury of citizens in the Southern District of Florida voted to criminally charge Trump after hearing evidence and testimonies from prosecutors and witnesses of their choosing. The indictment — unsealed the following day — is not a conviction, and Trump has repeatedly said he is innocent.
‘An incredible love fest’
Moncada also asked Trump how Hispanics feel about his indictment — and whether democracy in the United States is “regressing?”
“Well, there is a regression, but there’s been an incredible love fest between the Hispanic community and myself,” Trump said. “It has made the Republican Party a much different party.”
‘It’s a two-tiered system of justice’
After boasting about his “very successful administration” as president, Moncada asked Trump if the federal indictment is a way for Biden’s administration to distract the public’s attention from “where the real corruption is at.”
She referenced House GOP’s unverified claims that Biden was involved in a multi-million dollar international bribery scheme in which nine of his family members —including his adult son Hunter Biden — supposedly received money in exchange for changes in U.S. policy. Biden has denied these accusations.
“There’s a lot more than the $5 million, but certainly this is a way of them deflecting that,” Trump said referring to his federal indictment.
READ MORE: Special counsel says Trump ‘put our country at risk.’ Read the unsealed indictment
Moncada then brought up an alleged mismanagement of classified information by Hillary Clinton while she served as secretary of state under President Barack Obama from 2009 to 2013. Clinton was never found to have “systematically or deliberately mishandled classified information,” the New York Times reported.
She also said that authorities recently found classified documents in the garage of Biden’s Delaware home as well as in an office that he used in a Washington D.C. The Obama administration-era files, unlike Trump’s, were promptly returned to authorities, Biden’s aides have argued.
“Is there a double standard here?” Moncada asked Trump.
After praising Moncada for her “incredible” and “nice” questions, Trump said Republicans are being treated unfairly.
“It’s a two-tiered system of justice,” Trump said.
This story was originally published June 12, 2023 8:25 PM.
