Key moments from Donald Trump’s Erie, Pennsylvania rally

Donald Trump called his GOP rivals clowns and demanded they clear the path for him to the Republican presidential nomination during a speech at a rally in Pennsylvania on Saturday. He also launched a scathing attack on President Joe Biden, calling him a “dumb son of a b****.”

The former president, who remains the frontrunner despite his mounting legal woes, called on Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and other nominees to drop out of the race during a speech at a rally in Erie, Pennsylvania, on Saturday night.

The calls came after prosecutors made public the full indictment against Trump in the Mar-a-Lago classified documents case.

Trump has pleaded not guilty to charges accusing him of illegally keeping classified documents at his Florida home and refusing to turn them over to investigators. The superseding indictment unsealed on Thursday alleges that Trump sought to delete surveillance footage at the estate in an effort to obstruct the investigation.

Meanwhile, a letter sent to Trump by special counsel Jack Smith earlier this month indicated he may soon be indicted on new federal charges related to efforts to overturn the 2020 election. He is already facing criminal charges in New York over alleged hush money payments made to women who have accused him of sexual encounters during his 2016 presidential campaign. He has pleaded not guilty to those charges.

The former president has turned his legal problems into the main message of his White House bid, framing the charges as an effort by President Joe Biden to weaponize the Justice Department against his potential rival in 2024. The White House has said the president has had no involvement in the cases.

Here are some of the key moments from Trump’s speech in Pennsylvania.

Biden Is ‘Dumb Son of a B****’

Trump said leaders of other countries were at “the top of their game” during an attack on Biden.

“We have somebody that’s not at the top of his game, never was at the top of a game,” he said. “We have a guy who’s a dumb son of a b****.”

He added: “Every dollar spent attacking me by Republicans is a dollar given straight to the Biden campaign.”

Vows To Investigate President

Trump promised to appoint a special prosecutor to investigate Biden and his family if he wins a second term in the White House.

“When we win the election a little more than a year from now, I will appoint a real special prosecutor to expose the monumental corruption of the Biden crime family once and for all,” Trump said to loud cheers.

He also called on Republicans in Congress to halt the authorization of additional military support to Ukraine until the Biden administration cooperates with investigations into the president and his family’s business dealings.

Threats to Primary House Republicans

Trump criticized Republicans in Congress who have so far refused to go along with efforts to investigate and impeach Biden.

“The biggest complaint that I get is that the Republicans find out this information and then they do nothing about it,” Trump said. The former president was impeached twice during his term in office.

“Any Republican that doesn’t act on Democrat fraud should be immediately primaried and get out, out,” he added. “If they’re not willing to do it, we got a lot of good, tough Republicans around[…]and they’re going to get my endorsement every single time. And they’re going to win because we win almost every race.”

Ron DeSantis Is ‘Gone’

Trump said Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ campaign for the GOP nomination was dead. “DeSanctus [sic] is gone. He’s just about over.”

“I think if he ever made a comeback, it would be the greatest comeback in political history,” he said.

He also said it was time for DeSantis and other nominees, whom he dismissed as “clowns” to clear the field for him. They were “wasting hundreds of millions of dollars that Republicans should be using to build a massive vote-gathering operation” to take on Biden in November, he added.