Voicing against the multiple criminal charges against him, former US President Donald Trump made his comparison to former South African President Nelson Mandela stating that he is "doing it for a reason", CNN reported on Tuesday.
Addressing a crowd of supporters at a Derry, New Hampshire, rally, Trump said, "I don't mind being Nelson Mandela, because I'm doing it for a reason."
The remark from Trump -- who has been indicted four times and faces 91 criminal charges across the cases -- came after he filed to appear on the presidential ballot in New Hampshire.
Trump, who is the front-runner for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination, is facing two federal indictments brought by special counsel Jack Smith, as well as state criminal prosecutions in New York and Georgia. Some of the most severe charges against him are in connection with his alleged mishandling of classified information and efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election results, CNN reported.
Recently, Trump has also been appearing in person at his civil fraud case in New York, where a judge has found him and his eldest sons liable for fraud.
His comparison to Nobel Peace Prize-winning anti-apartheid activist is in line with his recent comment, where he stated that he is "willing to go to jail, if that's what it takes for our country to win and become a democracy again."
As he eyes a potential general election rematch with President Joe Biden, Trump focused a large portion of his campaign speech Monday on Israel's war with Hamas, using it to criticize Biden's recent address to the nation and arguing that Americans are less safe under his administration, CNN reported.
He called for the US to build a missile defense system like Israel's Iron Dome, and said he wanted to "build a shield around our country."
Trump, further claimed that a vote for Biden in 2024 would be "a vote to turn the United States into a hotbed of jihadists and make our cities into dumping grounds very much resembling the Gaza Strip."
The former president has used Hamas' deadly October 7 attack on Israel and the resulting war in arguing for his hard-line immigration policies, including implementing a travel ban on several predominantly Muslim countries if he were to win reelection, CNN reported.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
