Trump says he is a ‘dissident’ under siege from thugs in bleak speech

Donald Trump on Saturday branded himself a “political dissident” facing persecution from “thugs” in the US justice system as he issued a dystopian rallying cry for voters to back his return to the White House.

Trump was speaking at the Conservative Political Action Conference in Maryland, a prominent gathering of activists that has been entirely captured by the former president and his allies in recent years.

Trump has placed his own sense of victimhood at the heart of his 2024 presidential campaign on the back of the 91 criminal charges filed against him. But he has recently elevated his grievance by comparing himself to Alexei Navalny, the Russian opposition leader who died suddenly in prison last week.

“I stand before you today not only as your past and hopefully future president, but as a proud political dissident,” Trump told the crowd.

“I would rather lose my freedom than surrender to this group of thugs and tyrants, and fascists, scoundrels and rogues”, he added, citing US President Joe Biden and “deranged” prosecutors.

Saturday’s South Carolina primary is expected to bring him closer to clinching the Republican presidential nomination with a victory over his only remaining rival Nikki Haley.

His CPAC appearance capped four days of Trump-friendly elected officials and media talk show hosts, who filled the large resort hotel along the Potomac River with apocalyptic depictions of a country run amok with inflation and immigration.

“I told you that if Crooked Joe Biden got to the White House, our borders would be abolished, our middle class would be decimated, and our communities would be plagued by bloodshed, chaos and violent crime. We were right about everything,” Trump said.

CPAC once showcased traditional mainstream Republicans, but is now dominated by Trump, his allies and their fierce unilateralism, economic populism, and opposition to immigration. This year the slogan of the event was “where globalism goes to…