A day after he was found guilty on 34 felony counts of falsifying business records in a hush-money case involving a porn star, Donald Trump claimed the defense was "literally crucified" by a "man who looks like an angel," apparently referring to Judge Juan Merchan.
"You saw what happened to some of the witnesses that were on our side," he told reporters during a press conference Friday at Trump Tower. "They were literally crucified by this man who looks like an angel, but he's really a devil."
Trump went on to baselessly allege the trial was "rigged" by "Biden and his people."
"Maybe his people, more importantly. I don't know if Biden knows too much about it, because I don't know if he knows about anything," he quipped.
During the more than 30-minute speech, Trump inaccurately characterized his 34 felonies as "only misdemeanor(s)" orchestrated through his then-lawyer and former "fixer" Michael Cohen.
"He's a sleazebag. Everybody knows that. Took me a while to find out. But he was effective. He did work, but he wasn't a fixer. He was a lawyer," insisted Trump.
"I would have loved to have testified," said the former president, who opted not to take the stand in his defense.
In his rambling comments, Trump also called the committee that investigated the violent Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol "thugs."
He added: "We're living in a fascist state."
The 77-year-old presumptive GOP nominee is the first U.S. president to be convicted of a felony, but will still be eligible to run for re-election later this year.
Trump faces up to four years in prison for paying former porn star Stormy Daniels $130,000 to keep quiet of their affair in a plot to influence the 2016 presidential election.
He will be sentenced July 11, four days before the Republican National Convention where he will be formally presented as the party's presidential nominee.
Before walking away from the podium, Trump assured "we're going to be appealing this scam. We're going to be appealing it on many different things."
He went on to insult Biden as "the worst president in the history of our country, the most incompetent. He's the dumbest president we've ever had," and vowed "November 5 is going to be the most important day in the history of our country" referring to the upcoming election.
"I'm willing to do whatever I have to do to save our country and to save our Constitution," said Trump. "I don't mind."
