Trump Rallies in Pennsylvania Amid Legal Battles

Former US president and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump holds a rally in swing-state Pennsylvania.

Donald Trump's mounting legal woes are just more reason to stick behind the former president, his ardent supporters said, just days before the Republican leader's historic criminal trial gets underway in New York.

Gathered in the small Pennsylvania town of Schnecksville, his impassioned backers said they believe Trump will come out of the proceedings stronger than ever.

The crowd, braving a chilly wind and some light rain, started gathering to hear the former president speak at night as he campaigned once again for the White House.

"I've been indicted more than Al Capone, the great gangster," Trump said to the cheering audience.

"There is absolutely nothing here. There is no misdemeanor, there is no felony, there's no federal crime," he claimed.

Trump will appear in court in New York City to face accusations of falsifying business records in a scheme to cover up an alleged sexual encounter with porn star Stormy Daniels so as not to doom his 2016 election.

To his fans, who huddled under fluttering American flags and "Trump 2024" banners, Trump's proclamations of innocence rang true.

Whether Trump is convicted won't make any difference to Randy Thomas, 57, who also drove from New Jersey to attend the rally.

Pennsylvania is a key swing state that Trump won in 2016 but lost to Joe Biden in 2020.

Hours before the rally, Trump used similar language on his Truth Social platform, attacking the judge who will oversee his trial in New York as "totally conflicted and corrupt."

Trump's other criminal cases -- centered on his alleged hoarding of top-secret documents in Florida after he left the White House and his involvement in attempts to overturn the 2020 election -- all face multiple delays.