Trump once said that a candidate under investigation by a federal intelligence agency “has no right to run”?

Claim:

In November 2016, Donald Trump declared that a candidate under investigation by the federal government “has no right to run” and that it is “virtually impossible” for an indicted president to lead the government.

Evaluation:

Following the conviction of former US President Donald Trump on May 30, 2024, on 34 counts of white collar fraud related to hush money payments to porn star Stormy Daniels, interest grew in this statement allegedly made by Trump during his 2016 presidential campaign:

“A candidate who is being investigated by the federal government ‘has no right to run.’ Moreover, ‘it would be virtually impossible for (an indicted president) to govern.'”

The text in question is an exact paraphrase of statements Trump made at two different rallies in November 2016 – a rally on November 3 in North Carolina and a rally on November 5 in Colorado. Trump’s statements referred to then-FBI Director James Comey’s revelation to Congress on October 28 that his agency had reopened a criminal investigation into Hillary Clinton.

The wording in question appears to come from reporting by CNN’s KFile. In July 2023, that team published an article that brought to light several statements made by Trump following Comey’s revelation (emphasis ours):

On November 3, 2016, Trump made similar comments in Concord, North Carolina. “If she wins, it would trigger an unprecedented constitutional crisis that would paralyze the functioning of our government,” he said.

“She is probably examined for many years, and it will probably end – in my opinion – in a criminal trial. I mean, look at it. Who knows? But it certainly looks like it.” (…) “You has no right to stand for electionyou know that,” Trump said. “No right.”

Trump added at a rally in Denver on November 5, 2016, that Clinton was “the prime suspect in a wide-ranging criminal investigation” because of her controversies “practically impossible for them to govern.“

The paraphrased collection of statements is sometimes misquoted as a direct quote. However, as shown in the meme shown here, the parts in quotation marks are statements Trump made in November 2016, and the paraphrased parts accurately reflect the intent of those statements. Therefore, the claim is true.

Sources