Trump Virginia Leader Likens the U.S. to a ‘Banana Republic’

Donald Trump’s two-time Virginia campaign chair said on Tuesday that he expects the former president’s indictment on charges related to his handling of classified documents will only increase his political support.

“I think it is backfiring,” conservative radio host John Fredericks, who served as Trump’s Virginia campaign chair in 2016 and 2020, told listeners on Tuesday. “After people see him in court I think the support that’s gone up — I think that’s going to double again,” he said. “This is a clown show. We live in a banana republic and it could happen to me tomorrow.”

In a Miami courtroom on Tuesday afternoon, Trump formally entered not-guilty pleas to dozens of federal charges that he improperly retained classified documents and sought to block government attempts to get them back.

Read the full report from the Richmond Times-Dispatch.

VIEW PHOTO GALLERY: Protesters and supporters gather in Miami ahead of Trump court appearance