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Trump, the front-runner for the Republican nomination to take on
Democratic President Joe Biden in the 2024 election, is now
facing four concurrent criminal prosecutions, including two
involving his attempts to overturn his 2020 loss to Biden.
"It was my decision," Trump told NBC's "Meet the Press" program,
that the election was "rigged" against him, adding that he
relied heavily upon his own "instincts" in coming to that
conclusion.
Trump has continued to make false claims that the election was
stolen from him through widespread voting fraud.
Asked why he dismissed the views of lawyers in the White House
and his campaign that he had lost the election, Trump responded:
"Because I didn't respect them."
Trump singled out former U.S. Attorney General William Barr, who
told him that he had lost the election, as one of the lawyers
whose advice he did not follow.
"I listened to some people," Trump said. "Guys like Bill Barr,
who was a stiff, but he wasn't there at the time. But he didn't
do his job because he was afraid."
Trump has pleaded not guilty in all four criminal cases,
including a federal prosecution in Washington and a Georgia
state indictment that involve to his attempts to recruit a slate
of phony electors for congressional certification of the 2020
election results.
His comments on Sunday could undermine one of his possible legal
defenses - that he relied on the advice of his lawyers in
continuing to challenge his defeat. U.S. courts threw out dozens
of legal challenges from Trump's campaign and allies following
the November 2020 election.
(Reporting by Jason Lange; Editing by Scott Malone and Will
Dunham)
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