‘I’ll Never Leave’: Trump Vows to Stay in the Presidential Race Even if He’s Convicted in Document Case

Even if he’s convicted for mishandling classified documents, Donald Trump claimed that he’ll stay in the running for president in 2024.

Politico’s Alex Isenstadt reported on a conversation he had with the ex-president on his plane between speeches to Republicans in Georgia and North Carolina on Saturday. Trump’s speeches largely focused on Special Counsel Jack Smith indicting him on 37 criminal counts of obstruction of justice, violating the Espionage Act, and illegally retaining classified material.

Speaking with Isenstadt, Trump again denied wrongdoing over the case of the documents while insisting “I’ll never leave” the 2024 race. He also railed against the “thugs and degenerates who are after me.”

“Look, if I would have left, I would have left prior to the original race in 2016,” he said. “That was a rough one. In theory, that was not doable.” While Trump raved during his speeches that the indictment is great for his polling, he acknowledged the indictment as a problem to reporters.

“Nobody wants to be indicted,” Trump said. “I don’t care that my poll numbers went up by a lot. I don’t want to be indicted. I’ve never been indicted. I went through my whole life, now I get indicted every two months. It’s been political.”