Trump augurs divisive year in angry Christmas rant

(CNN) —& Most global political,& spiritual& and national leaders mark Christmas with a plea for peace, or by stressing the virtues of family and unity. That’s not& Donald Trump’s style. The ex-president& unleashed an online torrent of fury and bitterness, largely over his& legal plights, spanning Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, previewing the discord and personal obsessions he will inflict on the nation in a& pivotal election year& in 2024. Trump raged at& President Joe Biden& and& special counsel& Jack Smith, making& expansive and false claims that his attempts to stay in power after losing the 2020 election represented a vital defense of American democracy and were thus perfectly legal. In a tide of invective in block capitals on his Truth Social network, Trump escalated& extreme rhetoric on immigration& that has drawn comparisons to Nazi demagoguery in the 1940s and reprised his view of unlimited presidential power that has critics fearing autocracy if& he& wins the next election. Just& three weeks before voting starts in the Republican nominating race, the front-runner also underscored the extraordinary extent to which false claims about electoral fraud three years ago are still the anchor of his political project. And his tirades, at a time...