Trump calls Biden the ‘destroyer’ of democracy despite his own efforts to overturn 2020 election

All of the suits to date have failed. Biden has no involvement in them, but Democratic donors who back him also help fund the liberal groups filing the claims. That has led Trump to blame them on the president, whom he contended had “defaced the Constitution” in trying to block him.

And the former president, who has a long history of speaking warmly about authoritarian leaders and sometimes echoing their rhetoric, seemed aware of criticisms against him.

“Americans don’t like fascists,” Trump said. He praised Chinese President Xi Jinping and China’s criminal justice system for swiftly executing drug dealers, and boasted that North Korean President Kim Jong Un likes him.

But Trump noted he was often attacked for these relationships and tried to defend them. “It’s good to have a good relationship with people who have nuclear weapons,” he said.

Throughout the speech, Trump repeated his arguments the 2020 presidential election that he lost was “stolen” and that US elections in general are “rigged.” There is no evidence that the 2020 election was stolen. Dozens of lawsuits were dismissed by courts and government and independent reviews have not found enough alleged fraud to throw the outcome into question.

Trump supporters would attack the US Capitol on Jan 6, 2021, to try to stop the certification of Trump’s loss to Biden. On Saturday, Trump continued his practice of referring to some of those arrested in connection with the riot as “political prisoners”.

Earlier in the day, at a rally in Ankeny, Iowa, Trump returned to allegations of Democratic election fraud, one of his favourite themes on the campaign trail. He told the crowd to “guard the vote” in 2024, and focused on diverse cities he has often denigrated as examples of places where fraud would happen.

“You should go into Detroit and you should go into Philadelphia and you should go into some of these places, Atlanta, and you should go into some of these places and we’ve got to watch those votes when they come in,” Trump told his supporters.