Wednesday 10 August 2022 04:34 AM Day two of protests outside Trump's Florida residence draws raucous crowd trends now

For the second consecutive day, irate Donald Trump supporters descended on his Mar-a-Lago home to protest the FBI raided as part of an investigation into whether he took classified records from the White House to the Florida residence. 

DailyMail.com cameras saw tons of pro-Trump signs, along with a smattering of anti-Trump protesters near the gated estate on Tuesday after many came just hours after the ex-president himself announced the investigation. 

Trump, disclosing the search in a lengthy statement, claimed that agents had opened up a safe at his home and described their work as an 'unannounced raid' that he called 'prosecutorial misconduct.'

He accused the FBI of a double standard, claiming the bureau 'allowed' Hillary Clinton to 'acid wash' 33,000 emails from her time as secretary of state. 

Those in his camp said the raid was a clear attempt to thwart a potential 2024 presidential run. 

Tuesday, supporters brought more and more pro-Trump signs and were in general more organized and passionate, with groups like the far right Proud Boys and Blacks for Trump professing their support outside Mar-a-Lago. 

Signs became more and more creative, with one even depicting the former president as John Rambo.  

The former president spent much of the day posting to his TRUTH social media platform, both complaining about his treatment by the feds and celebrating primary victories for candidates he endorsed. 

Trump wrote earlier Tuesday evening: 'We are no better than a third world country, a banana republic' echoing the words of many conservatives, including Florida Governor Ron DeSantis. 

He also celebrated the primary victory for Joe Kent over pro-impeachment Washington State Rep. Jaime Herrera Beutler: 'Joe Kent just won an incredible race against all odds in Washington State. Importantly, he knocked out yet another impeacher, Jaime Herrera Beutler, who so stupidly played right into the hands of the Democrats'. 

The raid on Trump's home intensifies the months-long probe into how classified documents ended up in more than a dozen boxes located at Mar-a-Lago earlier this year. 

It occurs amid a separate grand jury investigation into efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election and adds to the potential legal peril for Trump as he lays the groundwork for another run.

Familiar battle lines, forged during a four-year presidency shadowed by FBI and congressional investigations, quickly took shape again in the wake of Monday night. 

Trump and his allies sought to cast the search as a weaponization of the criminal justice system and a Democratic-driven effort to keep him from winning another term in 2024 - even though the Biden White House said it had no prior knowledge of it, and the current FBI director, Christopher Wray, was appointed by Trump five years ago and served as a high-ranking official in a Republican-led Justice Department.

The defense serves as a fresh reminder of the former president's enduring grip on the GOP, as speculation remains as to whether he will run again in 2024. 

'The sooner he kicks off his campaign, the better,' Indiana GOP Rep. Jim Banks, the chair of the Republican Study Committee, said in an interview.

Banks was among about a dozen Republican lawmakers who spent several hours Tuesday evening with Trump at his summer home in Bedminster, New Jersey. During a meal that included steak, scallops, mashed potatoes, salad and a Trump cookie, the group talked about the upcoming midterm elections and the 2024 presidential race, Banks said.

The former president told the lawmakers 'his mind is made up' about a 2024 campaign and 'we'll all be happy with his decision.'

The FBI search seemed to trigger a shift among Trump's advisers, who had been privately urging him to wait until after the midterm elections to announce his intention to seek the presidency again. Suddenly, some of those same advisers were urging him to launch his campaign before the November elections.

Trump stoked such speculation in the hours after the search by posting a campaign-style video on social media. 'The best is yet to come,' he said.

He followed up with a fundraising appeal, making it personal by declaring 'it's important that you know that it wasn't just my home that was violated - it was the home of every patriotic American who I have been fighting for.'

In Columbia, South Carolina, Sen. Lindsey Graham said he spoke with Trump and felt sure another campaign was coming.

'One thing I can tell you,' Graham said. 'I believed he was going to run before. I'm stronger in my belief now.'

As Republicans rallied behind Trump, Democrats pushed back against GOP claims of political interference, without evidence. Some accused the GOP of a departure from its longstanding commitment to 'law and order.'

'The FBI director was appointed by Donald Trump,' said House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

Asked if the raid might hurt Democrats in the November elections, she said: 'You're talking about if the Justice Department decides to have a warrant to go in because they suspect something is justified, it´s going to have an impact on the election? No, no, no, no, no.'

Some of Trump's most vocal Republican critics still shied away from embracing the former president. And it was unclear how rank-and-file Republican voters and independents frustrated by Trump's divisive leadership might be moved by the new developments.

Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, a former federal prosecutor and one of many Republicans considering a 2024 presidential bid, noted Tuesday that a federal judge had to sign off on the warrant.

'The former president is presumed innocent,' Christie said in an interview. 'On the other hand, we can't immediately impugn the motives of the prosecutors just because they're from another political party.'

'It's an extraordinary action. And there better be some pretty extraordinary facts to underlie it. If there are, then they have every right to do it.'

And some other Republican officials seemed to express continued concerns about Trump by refusing to weigh in at all.

The relatively short list of those GOP leaders who remained silent Tuesday afternoon was led by Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell, who has privately encouraged his party to move past Trump. But the Kentucky Republican eventually weighed in, saying: 'The country deserves a thorough and immediate explanation of what led to the events of Monday. Attorney General Garland and the Department of Justice should already have provided answers to the American people and must do so immediately.'