Former President Donald Trump says he will surrender to authorities in Georgia on Thursday to face charges of racketeering, soliciting a violation of oath from a public official, and a host of other offenses.
Trump, a presential candidate, would be appearing in Georgia one day after the GOP’s primary debate, but Trump has decided to skip that debate. Instead, Trump has announced a pre-taped interview with talk show host Tucker Carlson, set to air at the same time as the debate.
With such a quick turnaround between the debate and the arrest, it’s no wonder that Trump chose to pre-tape the interview.
Trump advisers told The Washington Post that the interview had already been taped as of Sunday, three days in advance of the broadcast.
Carlson is rumored to be airing the interview on Twitter, now sometimes called “X.” After all, Carlson has been broadcasting on Twitter ever since leaving Fox News in April.
However, Trump has partial ownership of Truth Social, a platform rivaling Twitter.
“MY INTERVIEW WITH TUCKER CARLSON WILL BE AIRED TONIGHT AT 9:00 P.M.,” Trump posted Wednesday on Truth Social. “ENJOY… SPARKS WILL FLY.”
Earlier that day, the former president reaffirmed his plans for an arrest on Thursday. “I WILL PROUDLY BE ARRESTED TOMORROW AFTERNOON IN GEORGIA,” Trump posted on Truth Social. “Can you believe it? I’ll be going to Atlanta, Georgia, on Thursday to be ARRESTED.”
It will be Trump’s fourth arrest since April, when he became the first former president in U.S. history to face indictment. Since then, Trump, who remains the leading candidate for the Republican presidential nomination, has had what has seemed like an endless procession of bookings and arraignments in jurisdictions across the country. His appearances in New York, Florida and Washington, D.C., have drawn enormous media attention, with news helicopters tracking his every move.
The order sets Trump’s bond for the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations — or RICO — charge at $80,000, and adds $10,000 for each of the 12 other counts he is facing. Bond is the amount defendants must pay as a form of collateral to ensure they show up for required court appearances.
That’s $200,000 in total.
Trump has denied any wrongdoing, and he characterizes the case — and the three others he is facing — as efforts to hurt his 2024 presidential campaign.
In a post on Monday, Trump called the Fulton County district attorney “crooked, incompetent, & highly partisan.” He also criticized Brian Kemp, Georgia’s Republican governor. Kemp tweeted last week, “The 2020 election in Georgia was not stolen.”
Fulton County District Attorney Fanni Willis set a deadline of noon Friday for Trump and his 18 co-defendants to turn themselves in to be booked.
Evidently, Trump has decided to show up one day early.
The Horn editorial team and the Associated Press contributed to this article.