Donald Trump appeared to be struggling to get into the holiday spirit as he used his Easter message to fume about President Joe Biden, the Afghanistan withdrawal – and declare “WORLD WAR III”.
The former president made a series of all-caps rants on his Truth Social platform on Easter Sunday, just days after he made history as the first current or former US president to ever be charged with a crime.
It began on Sunday morning with a “HAPPY EASTER” wish to “TO ALL OF THOSE WEAK & PATHETIC RINOS, RADICAL LEFT DEMOCRATS, SOCIALISTS, MARXISTS, & COMMUNISTS WHO ARE KILLING OUR NATION”.
The tirade continued throughout the day with posts slamming the Biden administration as “the worst in history” in response to reports that the White House was blaming the Trump administration for issues the US faced during the 2021 withdrawal from Afghanistan.
“Can you believe that the totally corrupt Biden Disinformation Administration is now trying to blame ‘TRUMP’ for their incompetent exit from Afghanistan,” he raged.
“They are the worst in history, absolutely terrible people always blaming someone else for their mistakes and blunders - of which there are many!”
But, in perhaps the most disturbing post, Mr Trump appeared to suggest violence with the three-word post: “WORLD WAR lll.”
Mr Trump then doubled down on his comment on Monday morning, writing: “The way the U.S. is going, we will soon be in World War lll, with NO AMMUNITION!”
He also called for the need to “get rid of Biden”.
His mention of a new world war sparked an uproar on social media over the weekend.
Former congressman Adam Kinzinger branded Mr Trump a “clown” and “unhinged” over his Easter message.
“Nice Easter post, clown. He will never be president again. He is completely utterly unhinged Donald Trump will go down in history as an aboration… a shame… an embarrassment. But we will come back from him and put that past away. Happy Easter!” he wrote.
“Trump doesn’t have a clue what Easter is about. That Orange Idiot wouldn’t know a resurrection from an insurrection,” another person tweeted.
Others pointed out the stark contrast between his message calling for war and Mr Biden’s message where he wished Americans a “joyous and peaceful Easter”.
The former president’s Truth Social tirade came the same day that Melania Trump also broke her silence on social media for the first time since her husband’s arrest on criminal charges.
The former first lady posted a simple “happy Easter” message on social media and then joined her husband in the Mar-a-Lago ballroom for an Easter brunch on Sunday.
This marked her first public appearance since the day he was indicted on criminal charges – as she chose to skip his post-arraignment speech at Mar-a-Lago last Tuesday in an absence that didn’t go unnoticed.
In a historic day for America, Mr Trump was arrested and arraigned on criminal charges in New York on Tuesday 4 April.
He was charged with 34 felony counts of falsifying business records in order to conceal illegal activity connected to his 2016 presidential campaign.
Mr Trump surrendered to Manhattan authorities that afternoon and appeared in court for his arraignment before Judge Juan Merchan – the same judge who sentenced the Trump Organization and its CFO last year.
Cutting a glum figure, he defiantly pleaded not guilty to all the charges.
According to Manhattan prosecutors, Mr Trump and his former fixer Michael Cohen carried out a “catch and kill” scheme in the lead-up to the 2016 election.
Cohen allegedly made hush money payments on Mr Trump’s behalf to suppress negative information about him by silencing individuals over alleged affairs he had with women.
Mr Trump “repeatedly and fraudulently falsified New York business records to conceal criminal conduct that hid damaging information from the voting public during the 2016 presidential election,” the charging documents read.
Three specific alleged affairs and hush money payments were mentioned in the charging documents – a $130,000 payment to adult film star Stormy Daniels, a $150,000 to former playboy model Karen McDougal and a $30,000 payment to a doorman at Trump Tower who claimed he had information that Mr Trump had fathered a child with a woman while married to Melania Trump.
Mr Trump then allegedly reimbursed Cohen but falsely recorded the payments as legal fees.
Each of the 34 criminal charges relates to an individual entry in the Trump Organization’s business records.
Cohen has already served jail time for his part in the hush money case and has now become prosecutor’s star witness in the case against Mr Trump.
