“They want to put me in prison”

Former President Donald Trump said on Thursday, “I have the right to make personal attacks” against Vice President Kamala Harris – and referred to the fact that Democrats “want to put him in jail.”

“I think I have the right to make personal attacks. I don't have much respect for her,” Trump said during a press conference at his golf club in Bedminster, New Jersey, rejecting criticism, including from former Governor Nikki Haley (R-SC), that he should focus on the issues.

“You don't want me to be a little mean? You want to put me in jail. Me! You want – that's never happened in the history of our country. That's happened in third world countries.”

Trump used the opportunity to sharply attack Harris, 59, who replaced outgoing President Biden, 81, as the Democratic presidential candidate last month.

“I don't have a lot of respect for her intelligence and I think she's going to be a terrible president. And I think it's very important that we win. Whether the personal attacks are good or bad – I mean, she's definitely attacking me personally,” he said.

Trump pointed out that Harris and her running mate, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, had mocked Trump and his running mate, Ohio Senator JD Vance, as “weird.”

“She actually called me weird – he's weird. It was just a reference,” Trump said.

“And she called JD and me weird. He's not weird. He was a great student at Yale. He went to Ohio State, graduated valedictorian in two years and all these different things. And we have this guy who runs a failed, really very failed state, who has had a terrible career. I mean, he says, 'You're weird.' No, he's a weird guy, and she's weird in her politics.”

Trump added: “Who doesn't want strong borders? Who doesn't want lower taxes? … I don't think people know who she is yet.”

Trump added that insults were nothing compared to the four criminal cases he was fighting.

“Some people say, 'Oh, why aren't you nice?' But they're not nice to me,” Trump said.

“They're telling me to be nice. They want to put me in jail. That's never happened in the history of our country. I've done nothing wrong. I have corrupt judges. I have corrupt prosecutors and they're all Democrats.”

Trump was found guilty on 34 counts in Manhattan on May 30. He is accused of falsifying business records to conceal hush money payments from 2016. The verdict is expected to be announced on September 18.

Trump regularly points out that the New York case was initiated by Democratic District Attorney-elect Alvin Bragg, the prosecution was represented by former Biden Justice Department deputy official Matthew Colangelo, and presided over by Judge Juan Merchan, whose daughter Loren Merchan has worked in Democratic politics, including for Rep. Dan Goldman (D-NY), who was chief counsel in Trump's first impeachment trial in 2019.

Trump faces three other criminal cases — though it's unclear when or if any of them will go to trial — including federal and Georgia charges related to challenging his 2020 election loss to President Biden, as well as federal charges alleging misuse of classified documents. A federal judge dismissed the latter case last month, but the Justice Department is seeking a retrial.

Trump said he opposed Republican efforts to impeach his 2016 rival, Hillary Clinton, for misusing classified documents through a private email server, but now Democrats “could be in danger by setting a precedent in his criminal proceedings.”

“Some people were upset when I did that, but maybe today you have to look at it differently. I said, 'Wouldn't it be terrible to put the wife of the president – the former president of the United States – in prison?'” Trump said at the press conference on Thursday.

“I could have done that very easily. She was so guilty. And I said to my people, wouldn't it be terrible… to throw a former Secretary of State who was the wife of the President of the United States in prison? But that's exactly what they want to do to me, and I've done nothing wrong.”

Haley, the former president's centrist challenger in this year's Republican primaries, argued on Tuesday that Trump's attacks on Harris, whom he has called “Laffin' Kamala” in reference to her loud laughter at some public events, risk alienating voters.

“Republicans have to stop whining about her. We knew it would be her. She's not going to give an interview. They're going to hold out as long as they can. That's their right,” Haley told Bret Baier on Fox News' “Special Report.”

Haley, who until recently called Trump “bird brain,” said: “The election will not be won by talking about crowd size. It will not be won by talking about what race Kamala Harris is. It will not be won by talking about whether she's stupid.”

Trump's use of catchy nicknames to brand his rivals has been a staple of his political campaigns, using names like “Lyin' Ted,” “Little Marco,” and “Crooked Hillary” against his rivals in 2016 before indelibly dubbing the 2020 Democratic nominee “Sleepy Joe.”