Trump Impeachment: What The President Had To Say Following Senate Acquittal, Calls Dems Evil, Corrupt

President Trump took a victory lap Thursday following his impeachment acquittal in the Senate, saying Democrats had been out to get him since he “came down the escalator.”

Trump stepped up to the podium at the White House to the strains of “Ruffles and Flourishes,” then joined in a round of applause from the hundreds of politicians and administration officials making up his audience.

“We’ve all been through a lot together. … It’s been a very unfair situation,” he said.

Earlier in an appearance at the National Prayer Breakfast, he slammed Sen. Mitt Romney, R-Utah, who crossed party lines to vote to convict Trump of abuse of power, and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

Trump again described the investigation as a witch hunt.

“It started the day we came down the escalator … and it never really stopped,” he said, saying he was plagued by evil, corruption and “dirty cops.”

“It was a disgrace. Had I not fired James Comey, who was a disaster by the way, it’s possible I would not be standing here,” he said referring to the 2017 firing of the FBI director who initiated the investigation of Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election.

Trump again seemed to reject the findings of U.S. intelligence agencies and the Mueller report, which found Russian intelligence mounted a disinformation campaign on social media for the 2016 election aimed at influencing the outcome in Trump’s favor.

“Russia, Russia, Russia – It was all bulls---,” Trump said.

“I’ve done things wrong in my life. I’ll admit ,but this is what the end result is,” he said holding up the front page of the Washington Post. “It’s the only good headline I’ve had in the Washington Post. … We were treated unbelievably unfairly.”

Trump singled out several congressional Republicans, including Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, for praise. McConnell kept Republicans mostly in line, preventing any witnesses from being called during the Senate trial, which began Jan. 27.

Trump criticized Democrats as “dishonest and corrupt,” saying they “badly hurt our nation.” He praised Republicans for their courage “wisdom, fortitude and strength to do what everyone knows was right.”

He then referred to Romney and Pelosi, who has said she prays for the president daily.

"I don't like people who use their faith as justification for doing what they know is wrong nor do I like people who say, 'I pray for you,' when they know that's not so. So many people have been hurt and we can't let that go on," Trump said.

He then made a veiled threat: "We have allies, we have enemies, sometimes the allies are enemies, but we just don't know it. But we're changing all that."

Trump talked about the charges and his request to Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky to investigate former Vice President Joe Biden and his son. He said he had an obligation to get Ukraine to investigate corruption. He also said he had an obligation to determine why European governments weren’t contributing more to Ukraine’s defense.

Trump was accused of attempting to leverage $391 million in military aid to Ukraine in exchange for the Biden investigation. The aid eventually was released even though no investigation ever was announced.

“They took nothing and brought me to a final vote of impeachment. … It was a perfect call,” he said of his July 25 phone call to Zelensky.

Trump predicted the impeachment process will backfire on Democrats come November.

He also tweeted a video of him running for president forever.