Former President Donald Trump was just asked whether he would drop out of the running for the U.S. presidency if, in exchange for doing so, the various criminal charges that have been brought against him would be dropped.
According to the Daily Caller, Trump's response was a resounding "no."
This exchange took place on Wednesday during an appearance that Trump made on Hugh Hewitt's radio show.
There, Hewitt asked Trump:
If Jack Smith and Fani Willis and Alvin Bragg all get together and they come see you at Bedminster or Mar-A-Lago and they say to you, "We will drop everything - it will all go away - if you withdraw from the race and politics." Will you take that deal?
Trump began his response by saying that he does believe that the Smith, Willis, and Bragg "would do that." But, regardless, Trump said that he would not take the deal.
"I think they’d do that right now. I have no interest. You know me well enough. No interest. Absolutely no interest. I think they’d make that deal right now," Trump said.
Trump went on to explain his answer.
Trump said:
That’s what it’s all about. They, this is interfering with an election. And, all those fools that write that - oh, they really want Trump to win - they changed it, actually. So now, they say they did it in order to keep me strong. They thought this was going to take me down. This was not going to keep me strong. This was, this has never happened before where somebody got indicted and ended up the polls went up by 20% or 25% or something. No, no, if they came to me and they would do that, they would make that deal in two seconds. In two seconds.
Here, Hewitt, once more, asked Trump to confirm that he would not be interested in the deal. Trump replied: "I have no interest in it. These are corrupt people. These are fascists. These are Marxists. These are communists. These are sick people that are destroying our country."
Trump is currently facing four criminal indictments, one from Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, two from special counsel Jack Smith, and one from Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis.
Trump not only has pleaded not guilty to each indictment but he has also maintained that these indictments are political persecutions - that the Democrats are trying to weaponize the American justice system against their opposition, namely, Trump and Trump's supporters.
Trump currently leads the Republican 2024 field, according to Real Clear Politics, by 38.5 percentage points. The polls also have Trump tied with President Joe Biden in the 2024 general election.
Perhaps even more important, though, is the fact that Trump's support has only grown stronger since the indictments, which began in March. The indictments, in other words, appear to have backfired.
To anyone who has been following this situation, Trump's response on Hewitt's program will come as no surprise. Trump has made it clear, repeatedly that he will continue to fight no matter what the Democrats throw at him because the fight is just too important.
