Donald Trump was at a GOP campaign rally in Arizona to support gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake.
Trump defended keeping classified documents by accusing past presidents of doing the same.
He claimed George H.W. Bush stored documents at a former bowling alley turned Chinese restaurant.
Top editors give you the stories you want — delivered right to your inbox each weekday. Loading Something is loading. Thanks for signing up! Access your favorite topics in a personalized feed while you're on the go. download the app Email address By clicking ‘Sign up’, you agree to receive marketing emails from Insider as well as other partner offers and accept our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy
At a GOP campaign rally on Sunday in Arizona, former President Donald Trump took the opportunity to defend keeping classified documents by accusing past presidents of doing the same.
Trump said many other presidents stored millions of pages of documents in warehouses, "some of them without front doors that worked."
His speech erroneously claimed former President Barack Obama moved over 33 million pages of documents to a former furniture store in Chicago. The National Archives previously debunked this claim, saying they transported 30 million unclassified documents to a secure federal facility in Chicago.
Trump then falsely claimed that former President George H.W. Bush, "took millions and millions of documents to a former bowling alley pieced together with what was then an old and broken Chinese restaurant. They put them together. And it had a broken front door and broken windows. Other than that it was quite secure."
Trump also questioned why Bush, among other presidents, was not being prosecuted. The former President died in a Houston hospital from a blood infection in 2018 after his wife, Barbara, died months earlier.
His Arizona speech was nearly identical to the one he gave in Nevada on Saturday campaigning for Republican candidates Joe Lombardo and Adam Laxalt.
The comment prompted a response on Twitter from Bush's son, Jeb Bush, who replied to a clip of Trump during Saturday's Nevada rally. "I am so confused," he tweeted. "My dad enjoyed a good Chinese meal and enjoyed the challenge of 7 10 split. What the heck is up with you?"
A 7-10 split is when a bowler strikes all but the two rear pins.
Trump is under investigation for keeping government documents at his estate in Mar-a-Lago, which federal agents seized in August. The DOJ found 48 documents marked as classified at Trump's home and believe may be holding onto more. Michael Cohen, a former lawyer for Trump, recently said the former president held onto documents for his own personal gain.
Trump was at Bell Bank Park in Mesa, Arizona, helping to campaign for GOP candidate Kari Lake, who is running for governor. FiveThirtyEight's averaging of poll data shows the state's gubernatorial race is a toss-up.
Representatives for the George and Barbara Bush Foundation and Trump did not respond to Insider's request for comment.
steve1186 on October 10th, 2022 at 15:43 UTC »
I love how his defense argument has rapidly gone from
1) I didn’t do it. The FBI planted the docs
2) I did it, but I declassified them, so it’s ok.
3) I did it, but they’re protected by executive privilege, so it’s ok.
4) I did it, but everyone else did too! So it’s ok.
femacampcouncilor on October 10th, 2022 at 15:29 UTC »
So he admits keeping secret government documents is something that should be investigated, curious.
picado on October 10th, 2022 at 15:05 UTC »
Trump even went to his funeral.