Trump says he'll plead not guilty after federal indictment

Former President Donald Trump has vowed to stay in the 2024 presidential race even if he is convicted on the wide-ranging 37-count indictment.

In an interview with a Politico reporter who went on Trump's plane on Saturday, Trump said he will continue to run for president even if he's convicted in his federal case, his spokesperson confirmed.

"I'll never leave," Trump said. "Look, if I would have left, I would have left prior to the original race in 2016. That was a rough one. In theory, that was not doable."

A Trump campaign spokesperson confirmed to ABC News that Trump made the comment.

-ABC News' Soo Rin Kim

Former President Donald Trump made his first public remarks since being handed a wide-ranging 37-count indictment from the special counsel's office on Thursday.

"The ridiculous and baseless indictment of me by the Biden administration's weaponized department of injustice will go down as among the most horrific abuses of power in the history of our country," he told supporters Saturday in in Columbus, Georgia.

Hours after addressing Georgia’s Republican convention, Trump again blasted the "thugs and freaks running this country."

"We did absolutely nothing wrong. ... It's a disgrace what's happening. And you know what this country is paying a big price. Should never be allowed to happen," he said at a local Waffle House.

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Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis referred to the "weaponization" of federal agencies – echoing a previous statement in his first public appearance since the indictment of former President Donald Trump.

The governor made his comments at a speech at the North Carolina GOP State Convention in Greensboro on Friday.

"Our founding fathers would have absolutely predicted the weaponization that we've seen with these agencies, particularly Justice and FBI, because when you don't have constitutional accountability, human nature is such that they will abuse their power. And that's what happened," DeSantis said.

As he did on Twitter, DeSantis cited Hillary Clinton and Hunter Biden to argue the presence of a double standard of justice in America.

He did not, however, name Trump, who had the steadfast support of some of the attendees.

-ABC News' Will McDuffie and Elizabeth Schulze

Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie addressed the federal indictment against former President Donald Trump and declared that it was "devastating," in an interview Friday with CNN.

Christie, who announced his candidacy this week for president, called it a "very, very evidence-filled indictment" and the facts contained within it "devastating" for Trump.

Christie reiterated that he believed Trump engaged in behavior that was "irresponsible."

Christie also disagreed with some Republicans like Speaker Kevin McCarthy who have warned about the disruption the indictment could cause, saying that Trump's wounds were "self-inflicted" and that he could have avoided this by simply returning the documents.

"He has contributed mightily to subjecting the country to the pain that we're going to go through over the course of the next number of months because of what's going on," Christie said.

-ABC News' Nicholas Kerr