Donald Trump has claimed he is the victim of election interference, as he condemned New York District Attorney Alvin Bragg for bringing criminal charges against him - speaking just hours after his arraignment.
The former US president delivered an address to a crowd of some 500 people in his Mar-a-Lago estate ballroom in Florida after flying in from New York.
In his first comments since being charged with 34 counts of falsifying business records, the 76-year-old said he "never thought anything like this could happen in America".
"The only crime I have committed is to fearlessly defend our nation from those who seek to destroy it," he said.
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He then told the crowd that the US "is going to hell", and added that even people "who are not big fans" of him have said this "should not be happening".
"This fake case was brought only to interfere with the upcoming 2024 election and it should be dropped immediately," he said.
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Trump went on to say that Hillary Clinton got rid of 33,000 emails and "that was okay", and added: "But nobody has done it like Joe Biden."
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