WASHINGTON — Republican leaders blasted Donald Trump’s guilty verdict on Thursday — and casually trashed the entire U.S. justice system.
“This was a purely political exercise, not a legal one,” House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) said in a statement, falsely suggesting that President Joe Biden orchestrated the case.
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“The weaponization of our justice system has been a hallmark of the Biden Administration,” Johnson said, “and the decision today is further evidence that Democrats will stop at nothing to silence dissent and crush their political opponents.”
“Absolute injustice,” Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.), who is vying to be Trump’s vice presidential pick, said in a statement. “This erodes our justice system. Hear me clearly: You cannot silence the American people. You cannot stop us from voting for change.”
Their comments were typical for GOP lawmakers in the aftermath of Trump’s verdict. It’s the latest sign that top Republicans are ditching their “law and order” brand in their efforts to suck up to Trump amid his post-presidential legal woes. Johnson, Scott and other GOP lawmakers have spent the last few weeks into an attack dog for right-wing causes. At least one lawmaker called for legal revenge after Trump’s verdict.
“Time for Red State AGs and DAs to get busy,” Rep. Mike Collins (R-Ga.) said on social media, referring to state and local prosecutors.
Republicans have also glossed over the fact that Trump’s guilty verdict was decided not by Democratic politicians, but by a jury of 12 New York residents, who Trump personally helped to pick for his trial.
Trump was “very much involved” in selecting his jury, his attorney, Todd Blanche, said Thursday night on Fox News. “He was right there with the whole team talking about the potential jurors.”
And even as the jury delivered a unanimous guilty verdict, Blanche said the jurors “were great.”
“They showed up on time every day. They were committed. They paid attention,” he said. “But, we’re in a situation where we had a very limited number of people we could strike.”
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But Republicans rejected the idea that Trump had been tried by a jury of his peers, suggesting that New York residents simply can’t be fair because the state tends to vote Democrat.
As Rep. Jim Banks (R-Ind.) put it on social media, “New York is a liberal shit hole.”
Larry Hogan, the former governor of Maryland and a current U.S. Senate candidate, was the only high-profile Republican on Thursday to make a statement about respecting the outcome of the trial and the rule of law, regardless of what happened.
“I urge all Americans to respect the verdict and the legal process,” Hogan posted on social media before the verdict was announced. “At this dangerously divided moment in our history, all leaders—regardless of party—must not pour fuel on the fire with more toxic partisanship. We must reaffirm what has made this nation great: the rule of law.”
He was swiftly condemned by Trump supporters — and directly by Trump senior advisor Chris LaCivita.
“You just ended your campaign,” LaCivita replied to Hogan’s message.
