WILDWOOD, N.J.: Sandwiched between his appearances in court, Donald Trump headed on Saturday to the Jersey Shore, where he repeatedly blamed President Joe Biden for the criminal charges he鈥檚 facing as the presumptive nominees prepare to face off in the November election and called his New York hush money case 鈥渁 Biden show trial.鈥�
Blasting the Democratic president 鈥渁 total moron,鈥� Trump before a crowd of tens of thousands repeatedly characterized the cases against him as politically motivated and timed to harm his ability to campaign.
鈥淗e鈥檚 a fool. He鈥檚 not a smart man,鈥� Trump said of Biden. 鈥淚 talk about him differently now because now the gloves are off.鈥�
Trump, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, drew what his team called a 鈥渕ega crowd鈥� to a Saturday evening rally in the southern New Jersey resort town of Wildwood, 150 miles (241 kilometers) south of the New York City courthouse where he has been forced to spend most weekdays sitting silently through his felony hush money trial.
Lisa Fagan, spokesperson for the city of Wildwood, told The Associated Press that she estimated a crowd of between 80,000 and 100,000 attendees, based off her own observations on the scene Saturday, having seen 鈥渄ozens鈥� of other events in the same space.
Trump was joined on stage by several high-level endorsers including North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum and NFL Hall of Fame linebacker Lawrence Taylor, who is still listed as a registered sex offender after pleading guilty in New York in 2011 to misdemeanor criminal charges of sexual misconduct and patronizing an underage prostitute.
The beachfront gathering, described by Rep. Jeff Van Drew, R-N.J., as the largest political gathering in state history, was designed to serve as a show of force at a critical moment for Trump, who is facing dozens of felony charges in four separate criminal cases with the election less than six months away.
Hours before he was scheduled to take the stage, thousands of Trump loyalists donning 鈥淣ever Surrender鈥� T-shirts and red 鈥淢ake America Great Again鈥� hats crowded onto the sand between the boardwalk and carnival rides to greet the former Republican president.
鈥淭he everyday American people are 100 percent behind him,鈥� said Doreen O鈥橬eill, a 62-year-old nurse from Philadelphia.
鈥淭hey have to cheat and smear him and humiliate him in that courtroom every single day,鈥� O鈥橬eill said. 鈥淭his country is going to go insane if they steal the election again.鈥�
Trump鈥檚 extraordinary legal woes, which include three other unrelated criminal cases, have emerged as a central issue in the campaign.
Trump has repeatedly accused the Biden administration and Democratic officials in New York of using the legal system to block his return to the White House. Prosecutors allege the former president broke the law to conceal an affair with a porn actor that would have hurt his first presidential bid.
On Saturday, Trump posited that even those whom he accuses of politically motivated prosecutions didn鈥檛 bring every case they could have, pointing to the boosts his campaign has sustained with each wave of charges.
鈥淚 heard they were going to do a couple of other things and they said from Washington ... 鈥榳e鈥檙e indicting him into the White House,鈥欌€� Trump said. 鈥淭hey said, 鈥楧on鈥檛 do it.鈥欌€�
While Trump seized on his legal woes Saturday, a judge鈥檚 gag order 鈥� and the threat of jail 鈥� limit Trump鈥檚 ability to comment publicly on witnesses, jurors and some others connected to the New York trial, which is expected to consume much of the month. The judge in the case already has fined Trump $9,000 for violating the order and warned that jail could follow if he doesn鈥檛 comply.
The order doesn鈥檛 include references to Judge Juan M. Merchan, whom Trump called 鈥渉ighly conflicted鈥� or District Attorney Alvin Bragg, both of whom Trump said are 鈥渄oing the bidding for crooked Joe Biden.鈥�
Trump鈥檚 responsibilities as a defendant have limited his ability to win over voters on the campaign trail.
He spent last week鈥檚 off-day from court in the general election battlegrounds of Wisconsin and Michigan. And he was campaigning with tens of thousands of voters Saturday in New Jersey, a reliably Democratic state. Parts of New Jersey have deep-red enclaves and the southern shoreline in particular draws tourists and summer homeowners from neighboring Pennsylvania, a key swing state.
Biden, meanwhile, opened his weekend with a series of fundraising events on the West Coast.
He avoided Trump鈥檚 legal challenges 鈥� as he has done consistently 鈥� while addressing donors in Seattle. Instead, the Democratic president focused on Trump鈥檚 recent interview with Time magazine in which the Republican former president said states should be left to determine whether to prosecute women for abortions or to monitor their pregnancies.
Saturday鈥檚 visit to the New Jersey Shore resort wasn鈥檛 Trump鈥檚 first.
While president, Trump held a rally there in January 2020 to thank Van Drew, the New Jersey congressman who had just left the Democratic Party for the GOP as a rebuke for the former president鈥檚 first impeachment.
Trump drew a crowd at the time that lined the streets, filled bars and supported numerous vendors in what is usually a sleepy city in the winter. This time, the summer season is around the corner for the resort known for its wide beaches and boardwalk games and shops.
Wildwood is in New Jersey鈥檚 2nd District, which Van Drew has represented for three terms and covers all or part of six counties in southern New Jersey. It went for Trump in 2016 and again in 2020 after earlier backing Barack Obama.
Trump is set to return to the courtroom next week, when key prosecution witness Michael Cohen, Trump鈥檚 fixer-turned-foe, is expected to take the witness stand. Last week, he was visibly angry at times as he was forced to sit through testimony from former porn actor Stormy Daniels, who described a sexual encounter with the former president in shocking detail.
Trump is charged with 34 counts of falsifying internal Trump Organization business records. The charges stem from paperwork such as invoices and checks that were deemed legal expenses in company records. Prosecutors say those payments largely were reimbursements to Cohen, Trump鈥檚 attorney, who paid Daniels $130,000 to keep quiet.
The prosecution could rest its case by the end of the week. It鈥檚 unclear if Trump himself will take the stand when the defense presents its case.
Back on the Jersey Shore, 65-year-old Pat Day said she felt some urgency to see Trump in person on Saturday.
鈥淲e want to see Trump before they take him out,鈥� said Day, who was visiting from the Florida Keys. 鈥淚鈥檓 worried. They鈥檙e going to do everything they can so he doesn鈥檛 get elected again.鈥�