Mexican president criticizes Trump felony charges
Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador on Wednesday said he does not agree with the criminal charges brought against former U.S. President Donald Trump.
"Supposedly legal issues should not be used for electoral, political purposes," Lopez Obrador told a regular news conference. "That's why I don't agree with what they are doing to ex-President Trump."
Trump was charged on Tuesday with 34 felony counts of falsifying business records in a historic case over allegations he orchestrated hush-money payments to two women before the 2016 U.S. election to suppress publication of their sexual encounters with him.
Trump, the first sitting or former U.S. president to face criminal charges, pleaded not guilty.
Leftist populist Lopez Obrador compared Trump's case to the December ouster of former Peruvian President Pedro Castillo, who was removed from office and arrested after trying to dissolve congress.
"It should be the people who decide," said Lopez Obrador, who said he could not say whether Trump was guilty or not.
Lopez Obrador, who took office in 2018, developed a friendly working relationship with then-counterpart Trump, despite the U.S. president launching his election campaign in 2015 by calling Mexicans rapists and drug runners and promising to make Mexico pay for a border wall.
Lopez Obrador in November publicly called for Twitter to reinstate Trump's then-banned account on the social media platform.
Lopez Obrador's motivations for defending Trump may be personal.
Beginning in 2004, Lopez Obrador, then the mayor of Mexico City and the frontrunner for Mexico's presidential election in 2006, was the subject of a judicial process that he said was a political plot by Mexico's then-President Vicente Fox.
The federal government's ultimately unsuccessful effort to put Lopez Obrador on trial for charges of contempt of court threatened to keep him from running for president.
Lopez Obrador went on to lose the 2006 and 2012 presidential election - results he did not accept, alleging massive voter fraud.
Trump was charged on Tuesday with 34 felony counts of falsifying business records in a historic case over allegations he orchestrated hush-money payments to two women before the 2016 U.S. election to suppress publication of their sexual encounters with him.
Trump, the first sitting or former U.S. president to face criminal charges, pleaded not guilty.
Leftist populist Lopez Obrador compared Trump's case to the December ouster of former Peruvian President Pedro Castillo, who was removed from office and arrested after trying to dissolve congress.
"It should be the people who decide," said Lopez Obrador, who said he could not say whether Trump was guilty or not.
Lopez Obrador, who took office in 2018, developed a friendly working relationship with then-counterpart Trump, despite the U.S. president launching his election campaign in 2015 by calling Mexicans rapists and drug runners and promising to make Mexico pay for a border wall.
Lopez Obrador in November publicly called for Twitter to reinstate Trump's then-banned account on the social media platform.
Lopez Obrador's motivations for defending Trump may be personal.
Beginning in 2004, Lopez Obrador, then the mayor of Mexico City and the frontrunner for Mexico's presidential election in 2006, was the subject of a judicial process that he said was a political plot by Mexico's then-President Vicente Fox.
The federal government's ultimately unsuccessful effort to put Lopez Obrador on trial for charges of contempt of court threatened to keep him from running for president.
Lopez Obrador went on to lose the 2006 and 2012 presidential election - results he did not accept, alleging massive voter fraud.
AI Disclaimer: An advanced artificial intelligence (AI) system generated the content of this page on its own. This innovative technology conducts extensive research from a variety of reliable sources, performs rigorous fact-checking and verification, cleans up and balances biased or manipulated content, and presents a minimal factual summary that is just enough yet essential for you to function as an informed and educated citizen. Please keep in mind, however, that this system is an evolving technology, and as a result, the article may contain accidental inaccuracies or errors. We urge you to help us improve our site by reporting any inaccuracies you find using the "Contact Us" link at the bottom of this page. Your helpful feedback helps us improve our system and deliver more precise content. When you find an article of interest here, please look for the full and extensive coverage of this topic in traditional news sources, as they are written by professional journalists that we try to support, not replace. We appreciate your understanding and assistance.