Flashback: Trump Declared a Presidential Candidate Facing Criminal Indictment ‘Has No Right to be Running’

Former President Donald Trump, currently under two separate multi-count indictments, said in 2016 that a presidential candidate facing criminal indictment “has no right to be running” and that electing a president under indictment would create an “unprecedented constitutional crisis.”

The past comments from Trump, made about his then-presidential opponent Hillary Clinton, were uncovered by CNN’s K-FILE in a new report out Monday.

Andrew Kaczynski and Abby Turner dug up the old remarks from a rally during the 2016 presidential election Trump held in Reno, Nevada.

“We could very well have a sitting president under felony indictment and ultimately a criminal trial,” Trump said at the rally, adding, “It would grind government to a halt.”

Trump who is currently the GOP presidential frontrunner has vowed to remain in the race and be sworn in as president if elected, despite facing a 37-criminal count federal indictment for mishandling of classified documents. Trump is facing a separate 34-count felony indictment in New York regarding hush money payments made to a porn star.

During the rally, Trump warned that electing Clinton, who was not under indictment at the time, would “cripple the operations of our government” as he alleged she should be indicted over classified materials found in her private, non-secure email.

K-FILE noted that Trump made similar comments at another rally in November 2016 in Concord, North Carolina:

If she were to win, it would create an unprecedented Constitutional crisis that would cripple the operations of our government. She is likely to be under investigation for many years, and also it will probably end up – in my opinion – in a criminal trial. I mean, you take a look. Who knows? But it certainly looks that way.

“She has no right to be running, you know that. No right,” Trump added.

Trump had repeatedly called to “lock up” Clinton during the campaign, vowing to use the power of government to put his then-political rival in jail. In recent months, Trump unveiled his new nickname for President Joe Biden: “Crooked Joe Biden.” The new nickname is the exact same one he used against Clinton in 2016: “Crooked Hillary.”