President Donald Trump stopped by the Versailles restaurant in Miami, Florida on Tuesday and expansively commanded “food for everyone” shortly after pleading not guilty to 37 felony charges related to the improper handling of classified documents.
At Versailles, which bills itself as “the world’s most famous Cuban restaurant,” people across color lines gathered to pray for the former president. Black Republicans held signs of support outside the restaurant. Inside, a pastor and a rabbi led the prayers.
Trump, the frontrunner for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination and the first former president to face indictment on federal charges, appeared to turn the day into a campaign event, seeking to win over Miami’s Latino voters.
“Our Cuban-American community in Miami welcomed President Trump with open arms at the iconic Versailles Café,” Rep. Carlos Gimenez, R-Florida, who is Cuban-American, tweeted after Trump’s brief visit.
Trump made inroads with Latino voters in 2020, frequently raising the specter of communist governments in Cuba and Venezuela and comparing them to Democrats in leadership.
That same language was again heard from Trump lawyer and spokeswoman Alina Habba, who told reporters Trump’s arraignment “is the type of thing you see in dictatorships like Cuba and Venezuela” and that “it is commonplace there for rival candidates to be prosecuted, persecuted and put into jail.”
President Biden has denied any involvement in the case brought by the Justice Department Special Counsel Jack Smith.
‘Beyond Lunacy’
“President Trump endangering national security? This is the most lunatic claim filed by Democrats. In fact, it is beyond lunacy,” Shalabh ‘Shalli’ Kumar, founder of the Republican Hindu Coalition, told Ethnic Media Services, shortly after Trump entered his plea.
The charges against the former president include withholding and concealing national defense information in violation of the Espionage Act, false statements and conspiracy to obstruct justice. Boxes of classified documents, including some pertaining to America’s nuclear capabilities and to the military assets of allied countries, were found at his Mar-a-Lago estate, strewn about in a bathroom and on a stage.
Prosecutors have also indicated they possess audio of Trump acknowledging he understood some of the documents had not in fact been declassified before he left office, as he often claimed. Such a recording would undercut a main line of defense in his case.
Trump faces federal prison time and hefty fines if he is found guilty; he has called the case against him a “witch hunt.”
But the indictment has not diminished his popularity at the polls: Trump is far and away the leading contender for the 2024 Republican Presidential nomination. A new CBS News/YouGov poll released last week found Trump 38 points ahead of his closest challenger, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis. Despite the indictment, more than 61% of Republican voters will vote for Trump, according to the poll.
‘Biblical Thinking’
At the Versailles Restaurant, Pastor Yoelis Sánchez, a native of the Dominican Republic, told The New York Times that she had never voted for Trump, and declined to say whether she will vote for him in 2024. Nonetheless, she joined the prayers. “We prayed for God to give him strength and for the truth to come out. We are really concerned for his welfare,” she said.
“I don’t think he came here just because of the Latino vote. He came because he wanted to meet with people who have biblical thinking. He’s pro-life and pro-family, and Latinos identify with that,” said Sanchez.
The conservative group Blacks for Trump was also on hand Tuesday in front of the Wilkie D. Ferguson Jr. U.S. Courthouse in downtown Miami. A member of the group echoed that biblical theme, comparing their presence to those of the “immortals defending King Cyrus” of ancient Persia.
“These are real Black people here,” he told the right-leaning news agency Newsmax. “We are warriors and we are standing for Trump.”
