Republicans urged the former president to appeal the verdict after a jury found him guilty of all 34 criminal counts.
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House Speaker Mike Johnson called the verdict a “shameful day in American history.”
The Republican allies of former President Donald J. Trump wasted no time in blasting the guilty verdict returned by a New York jury on Thursday and in imploring him to appeal, repeatedly turning to words like “travesty” to describe the moment.
Top Republicans on Capitol Hill tried to one-up one another in demonstrating who could defend Mr. Trump, who was convicted of all 34 felony counts in the hush-money case, and condemn the verdict in the most strident terms.
Speaker Mike Johnson, who was among the cavalcade of Trump supporters who showed up outside Mr. Trump’s trial in a show of loyalty, called the verdict a “shameful day in American history.”
“Democrats cheered as they convicted the leader of the opposing party on ridiculous charges,” he said. “This was a purely political exercise, not a legal one.”
Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene, a far-right House member from Georgia who had also trekked to the courthouse earlier in the trial, posted an image of an upside-down flag on social media.
Still, some prominent Republicans called for respecting the judicial system.
“Regardless of the result, I urge all Americans to respect the verdict and the legal process,” Larry Hogan, the former governor of Maryland who is running for Senate there, said in a statement. “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.”
Chris LaCivita, a top official in the Trump campaign, responded to Mr. Hogan online: “You just ended your campaign.”
Vivek Ramaswamy, one of Mr. Trump’s former G.O.P. primary opponents, accused Democrats of weaponizing the criminal justice system.
“This will backfire,” Mr. Ramaswamy wrote on X.
Kari Lake, a candidate for the U.S. Senate in the critical battleground state of Arizona and one of Mr. Trump’s fiercest defenders, in a statement called the verdict an “egregious example of election interference and an outright mockery of the rule of law.”
“This legal tyranny will be summarily rejected by the American people on November 5th,” Ms. Lake wrote.
Mike Pompeo, who was a secretary of state under Mr. Trump and whose name has been floated as a potential running mate, panned the jury’s finding in the case, the first of four criminal proceedings against Mr. Trump.
“The future of this country should — and will — be decided by the American people in an election, not by 12 New Yorkers in a travesty of a politicized courtroom,” Mr. Pompeo wrote on X.
The No. 2 Republican in the House, Steve Scalise of Louisiana, said America had been converted into a “banana republic” because of the verdict.
“Extremist Democrats have undermined democracy,” Mr. Scalise’s statement read.
And Representative Jim Jordan of Ohio, the chair of the House Judiciary Committee and a close ally of Mr. Trump’s, condemned a “kangaroo court.”
“The verdict is a travesty of justice,” he fumed.
Neil Vigdor covers politics for The Times, focusing on voting rights issues and election disinformation. More about Neil Vigdor
Luke Broadwater covers Congress with a focus on congressional investigations. More about Luke Broadwater
See more on: U.S. Politics, 2024 Elections, Trump N.Y. Hush Money Case, Republican Party, U.S. House of Representatives, U.S. Senate
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Source: nytimes.com
