Trump claims he is ‘proud political dissident’ in ominous CPAC speech

Donald Trump claimed he is a “proud political dissident” in his CPAC speech just days after he compared himself to Russian leader Alexei Navalny, who recently died in a Siberian prison under unclear circumstances.

Mr Trump said in National Harbor, Maryland on Saturday that “Joe [Biden] and his henchmen have you trapped and it’s an express train barreling toward servitude and to ruin – it’s moving at a speed that Joe doesn’t understand because Joe… I don’t think he knows what the hell’s going on, to be honest with you, but he’s surrounded by some very bad fascists”.

“A vote for Trump is your ticket back to freedom. It’s your passport out of tyranny,” he argued. “And it’s your only escape from Joe Biden and his gang’s fast track to hell. And in many ways, we’re living in hell right now.”

Government ethics expert Meredith McGehee told The Washington Post this week that Mr Trump “since he has been president, his public statements indicate he has great frustration with using the system as it currently is”.

“When he makes a comment, ‘Yeah, I’d like to be dictator for a day,’ that indicates he does not value the democratic process as it has been traditionally viewed by the American political system,” she added.

Mr Trump said on Saturday that “the fact is Joe Biden is a threat to democracy”.

Mr Trump has long falsely claimed that the 2020 election was stolen from him. There’s no evidence for the claims.

“I stand before you today not only as your past and hopefully future president, but as a proud political dissident. I am a dissident,” Mr Trump added, noting that he has been “indicted more” than Al Capone.

The former president faces 91 felony counts across four indictments in connection to his handling of classified