Donald Trump Compared To 'Axe Murderer' by Republican

Donald Trump has "the moral compass of more like an axe murderer than a president," according to Geoff Duncan, the former Republican lieutenant governor of Georgia.

Duncan, a fierce critic of Trump's claim that the 2020 presidential election result was rigged against him in the Peach State, made the comments on CNN, where he regularly appears as a contributor.

Trump was arrested on Thursday in Georgia on 13 counts related to claims he broke the law attempting to interfere with the result in the state. He has fervently denied any wrongdoing, describing the accusations against him as "election interference" and a "witch hunt" on his Truth Social website.

Polling shows Trump maintains a commanding lead in the race to be the 2024 Republican presidential nominee, with one recent survey finding he is the preferred candidate of 50 percent of GOP voters, way ahead of second placed Ron DeSantis on 12 percent.

During a CNN appearance on Monday, Duncan was highly critical of Trump, commenting: "As a Republican, the dashboard is going off with lights and bells and whistles telling us all the warning things we need to know.

"Ninety-one indictments, fake Republican, $8 trillion worth of debt. Everything we need to see to not choose him as our nominee, including the fact he's got the moral compass of more like an axe murderer than a president."

In addition to Georgia, Trump is facing charges in three other cases over allegations he orchestrated the payment of hush money to an adult movie star, mishandled classified documents and attempted to block President Joe Biden's 2020 election victory on a nationwide basis. He has pleaded not guilty to all counts and resolutely denies doing anything illegal.

On CNN, Duncan also discussed the case of Mark Meadows, Trump's former chief of staff and one of his 18 co-defendants in the Georgia case. Earlier in the day, Meadows had testified in Georgia in a bid to move the case against him to a federal court, where his legal team could argue he has immunity.

CNN host Kaitlan Collins noted that in his memoirs, Meadows said his job was to inform the "most powerful man in the world" when he was in the wrong, and suggested he "didn't do that when it probably mattered the most."

Duncan agreed, commenting: "Well, he must've whispered it in his ear and not said it out loud, because I certainly have never seen examples of him standing up to Donald Trump.

"I think it's so interesting to continue to watch this play out like some sort of Ponzi scheme of lies that just kind of built. And if you look at their defenses at this point, it's all technicalities."

Charles Ponzi was a notorious swindler and con artist in the U.S. in the 1920s, famous for his namesake scheme where he paid early investors in a fake "money-making" plan using cash from later investors.

Duncan infuriated Trump supporters after the 2020 presidential vote by refusing to back attempts to reverse the outcome in his state, later accusing the then president of spreading "10 weeks of misinformation." In May 2021, Duncan announced he wouldn't be standing for reelection at the 2022 midterms.

On Saturday, Duncan also hit out at Trump on X, formerly Twitter, in response to an Atlanta Journal-Constitution front page reporting on the 19 arrests in Georgia that featured the mugshots of all the defendants, with Trump taking center stage. He said: "This image will either serve as a pivot point or a last gasp for the GOP. History will show Donald Trump was one of our nation's biggest mistakes ever. It will take decades to unwind the damage he's done to the GOP."

Newsweek has approached Trump for comment via the press inquiry form on his official website.

On Monday, U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan set March 4, 2024, as the start date for Trump's trial over claims he tried to block Biden's 2020 election win on a national basis. His legal team is requesting this be delayed until 2026, arguing the current start time won't allow for an "adequate" defense."