Washington — With little left to hold him back now, President Trump is airing his grievances and declaring victory over not just the impeachment saga that has forever marked his legacy, but over everyone and everything that has gotten in his way since he took office. The president declared a Thursday East Room event, surrounded by Republican members of Congress and other allies, a “celebration” not just of his acquittal, but of perseverance through the Russia investigation, race against Hillary Clinton, and tenure of fired FBI director James Comey.
“We went through hell unfairly, did nothing wrong,” the president told his exuberant crowd.
The president’s legal team received a standing ovation as they walked into the East Room. When the president himself walked in, he was greeted with thunderous applause, and clapped along with the crowd, as he so often does at campaign rallies.
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“We’ve all been through a lot together, and we probably deserve that hand for all of us, because it’s been a very unfair situation,” the president said, adding a “tremendous thing” was done over the last few years.
Mr. Trump insisted that he’s been going through a witch hunt essentially ever since he announced his run for office.
“We’ve been going through this now over three years. it was evil. It was corrupt,” Mr. Trump said. “It was dirty cops. It was leakers and liars. And this should never ever happen to another president.”
The president went on to blast former FBI Director James Comey, standing by firing him in the spring of 2017.
“Had I not fired James Comey, who was a disaster by the way, it’s possible I wouldn’t even be standing here right now,” the president said.
White House press secretary Stephanie Grisham said on Fox News Thursday that the president would address how horribly he was treated and “that maybe people should pay for that.”
The remarks aren’t his first on impeachment since the Senate vote. The president took advantage of a speech at the National Prayer Breakfast to blast those who opposed him, in rhetoric that resembled more of a rally than a prayer breakfast.
Senator Mitt Romney, before voting to convict the president, cited his faith and the importance of the oath he took before God to do impartial justice. As CBS News’ Fin Gomez has reported, the president’s legal team was surprised by Romney’s vote to convict the president.
The president, who has already attacked Romney on Twitter, didn’t see it that way Thursday morning.
“Weeks ago and again yesterday, courageous Republican politicians and leaders had the wisdom, fortitude, and strength to do what everyone knows was right. I don’t like people who use their faith as justification for doing what they know is wrong,” the president said.
Mr. Trump also took thinly veiled shots at House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who was seated feet away from him at the prayer breakfast. Mr. Trump, without saying Pelosi’s name, suggested she doesn’t pray for him, and she has said she does.
Mr. Trump, who in 2015 famously said he doesn’t think he’s ever asked God for forgiveness, ahead of the prayer breakfast held up a newspaper with the headline, “ACQUITTED.”
“When you impeach them for nothing then you’re supposed to like them, it’s not easy,” the president told the crowd at the prayer breakfast.
