Donald Trump compares himself to Nelson Mandela; says he’s not afraid of being imprisoned

Donald Trump has compared himself to the former President of South Africa, Nelson Mandela, insisting that he is not afraid of being imprisoned . 

The former U.S. president made the statement during a campaign stop in New Hampshire on Monday night, October 23. He also said he dreams about punching Joe Biden in the face, and vowed to build an Israeli-style Iron Dome missile defense shield over the U.S.

Mandela spent 27 years behind bars for opposing decades of apartheid rule in South Africa. After his release from prison in 1990, he went on to lead the nation into a new era as president.

Three years later he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his role in the ‘peaceful termination of the apartheid regime, and for laying the foundations for a new democratic South Africa.’ 

Trump, 77, the Republican presidential frontrunner for 2024, spoke to supporters in the Granite State for 100 minutes and said 91 criminal charges he is facing were part of a ‘fascist’ witch hunt led by Biden’s White House.

‘If you want to challenge the result of an election, they hound you,’ he said after filing to be on the state’s GOP primary ballot.

‘But we don’t get scared — we don’t get scared. I’ll tell you what, I don’t mind being Nelson Mandela, because I’m doing it for a reason.

‘We’ve got to save our country from these fascists, these lunatics that we’re dealing with. They’re horrible people and they’re destroying our country.’

Trump is facing four criminal indictments as well as civil trials that include allegations he inflated his worth, misclassified hush money payments to women during his 2016 campaign, illegally tried to overturn his 2020 election loss, and hoarded classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago club in Florida.

The Republican politician also recalled how Biden once said he would take him ‘behind the gym and beat the hell out of him’ if they were both in high school.

‘I dream of that. You know what I’d do with him?’ Trump asked the crowd as he threw a couple light punches in the air while making sound effects.

‘I’d hit him right in that fake nose. He’d have plastic lying all over the floor.’