Minnesota Republicans are vowing to redouble their efforts to help former President Donald Trump take back the White House this November after he was found guilty of 34 felonies by a Manhattan jury Thursday.
The case was brought against Trump by Democratic District Attorney Alvin Bragg, whose team argued that the former president falsified business records by labeling “hush money” payments to porn star Stormy Daniels as “legal services.”
Prosecutors argued that the records were falsified in an effort to influence the results of the 2016 election, according to the Daily Caller.
“So we’re going to be appealing this scam,” Trump said during a press conference Friday morning. “We’re going to be appealing it on many different things. [The judge] wouldn’t allow us to have witnesses, he wouldn’t allow us to talk, he wouldn’t allow us to do anything. The judge was a tyrant.”
In a statement immediately after the verdict was read, Trump described the case as a “rigged, disgraceful trial.”
“This was done by the Biden administration in order to wound or hurt an opponent, a political opponent. And I think it’s just a disgrace. And we’ll keep fighting. We’ll fight till the end, and we’ll win because our country has gone to hell,” he said.
Some Republicans have suggested that payback may be the only path forward for the GOP.
“To limit and undo that damage and restore the rule of law, Republicans may have no choice but to respond in kind,” former Bush administration lawyer John Yoo wrote in a National Review article.
“Time for Red State AGs and DAs to get busy,” added Rep. Mike Collins, R-Ga. “Unless we understand and fight on the battlefield Democrats have created, we will lose, and we will deserve to lose.”
Meanwhile, House Majority Whip Tom Emmer, R-Minn., vowed to “hold their feet to the fire,” referring to the “shady cast of characters who pulled off the biggest sham in U.S. history.”
Emmer was responding to an announcement from the Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government that Bragg and Matthew Colangelo will be called before Congress to testify about the case. Colangelo is a former Biden Department of Justice official who later joined Bragg’s office.
“I am deeply disappointed by the verdict in President Donald Trump’s trial. This decision is a significant moment in our nation’s history, and it raises serious concerns about the fairness and impartiality of our judicial system,” Republican Party of Minnesota Chairman David Hann said in a statement.
Many other Republican lawmakers and candidates in Minnesota have weighed in on the verdict:
Crooked @JoeBiden and @TheDemocrats woke a sleeping giant. America will release our verdict on November 5th: @realDonaldTrump wins in a landslide. pic.twitter.com/gfdaEHgdRm
— Tom Emmer (@tomemmer) May 31, 2024
(2/2) The American people see right through this sham conviction and I am confident this election will be decided in the voting booth – not the courtroom.
— Pete Stauber (@RepPeteStauber) May 30, 2024
The guilty verdict in President Trump's trial is a total disgrace. This was a performance trial that did not do fair justice. The American people are rightfully seeing through the attempt to abuse the judicial system against political opponents.
— Michelle Fischbach (@FischbachMN7) May 30, 2024
Never in my life have I seen all elements of the conservative coalition organically sing in such tune.
Leftists, you done messed up. https://t.co/kxOoY1p5jq
— Walter Hudson (@WalterHudson) May 31, 2024
An UNBELIEVABLE verdict against Trump! The two-tiered justice system is on full display & now the American people have a front row seat. It’s LAWFARE against Donald Trump! Forget about moving the goalpost, this is moving the entire playing field for American politics.
— Tayler Rahm for Congress MN 02 (@TaylerRahm2024) May 30, 2024
These charges against President Trump were bogus and political from the get-go. President Trump has a right to appeal these verdicts, which he should do. I believe he will prevail on appeal.
More evidence of a weaponized justice system.
— Joe Teirab (@JoeTeirab) May 30, 2024
We have a Republic if we can keep it.
Today the Bolshevik’s think they have won. We prove them wrong this November.
— 🇺🇸Mary🇺🇸 (@RepMaryFranson) May 30, 2024
This is the ugliest form of lawfare that I’ve seen in my entire life… And some of you people see this as a victory of some sort. Donald J. Trump is innocent and all of you shilling for that sham of a witch-hunt trial, should be far more than ashamed. SPIT ON THE FLOOR! YOU… pic.twitter.com/0iMug5gJaa
— Royce White 🇺🇸 (@Highway_30) May 31, 2024
It’s a dark day for our country. A NY court just affirmed the two-tiered system of justice in Joe Biden’s and Amy Klobuchar’s America. We must support President Trump in November because if it can happen to him, it can happen to you, too.
— Joe Fraser (@JoeFraserMN) May 30, 2024
Anthony Gockowski
Anthony Gockowski is Editor-in-Chief of Alpha News. He previously worked as an editor for The Minnesota Sun and Campus Reform, and wrote for the Daily Caller.
