Former President Donald Trump is looking to cash in on the claim he was “tortured” in an Atlanta jail.
In a fundraising email Monday selling “limited edition” coffee cups featuring his mug shot, Mr. Trump said he had been mistreated after he was indicted in August on racketeering and other related charges stemming from his attempts to overturn his 2020 election loss in Georgia.
“I want you to remember what they did to me,” Mr. Trump said in the fundraising pitch. “They tortured me in the Fulton County Jail, and TOOK MY MUGSHOT.”
“So guess what?” he said. “I put it on a mug for the WHOLE WORLD TO SEE!”
The Fulton County sheriff’s office did not respond to a request for comment.
The Georgia case was put on hold earlier this month. An appeals court is reviewing a lower court judge’s ruling that would allow Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis to stay on the case after her romantic relationship with the lead prosecutor raised ethics concerns.
The Trump campaign has tried to spin the presumptive GOP presidential nominee’s legal troubles into political advantage, including in the wake of him being convicted on 34 felony counts of falsifying business records to cover up hush money payments to a porn star.
On the stump, Mr. Trump jokes about having more legal troubles than Al Capone, the notorious Chicago crime boss from the Prohibition era.
Mr. Trump and his allies blame President Biden, whom Mr. Trump has dubbed “Crooked Joe Biden,” saying he weaponizing the justice system to prosecute a political adversary.
Democrats counter that Mr. Trump is undermining Americans’ faith in the justice system.
Despite criticizing federal and state prosecutors, Mr. Trump vows to be a champion for rank-and-file police and usher in a new era of law and order.
“I will stand with the heroes of law enforcement,” he said at a campaign rally Saturday in Philadelphia. “We will give our police officers the respect and protection and resources they need to drive down your crime to zero.”
The mug shot from the Fulton County Jail has become a popular image for the Trump campaign and it is splashed across all sorts of memorabilia, including “NEVER SURRENDER” T-shirts and posters.
The mug shot marked a first for a former U.S. president.
• Seth McLaughlin can be reached at smclaughlin@washingtontimes.com.
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