Mike Johnson defends decision to attend Donald Trump trial, calling the case ‘an atrocity’

House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-Louisiana) defended his decision to attend former President Trump’s hush money trial in New York earlier this week, calling the incident an “atrocity.”

in NBC News interviewJohnson said he rode with the former president Tuesday from Trump Tower to the Manhattan courthouse, where Trump sat before a judge in the fifth week of his criminal trial.

Mr. Johnson and several other Republican allies expressed support for the presumptive Republican candidate and denounced the court proceedings as election interference. The speaker said President Trump is angry that he can’t campaign.

“He has clearly been in custody for five weeks in this trial that has no merit, that prosecutors have already acquitted him eight years ago, and that they are unable to define the crime he is alleged to have committed. “He is clearly unhappy that the whole incident is being confessed to by Michael Cohen, a known perjurer,” Johnson said in an interview Wednesday. “So it’s an atrocity.”

Johnson said the Republican “soon to be official nominee” would be required to be in court most of the week because witnesses would be on the stand rather than on the campaign trail, “in what many of us believe.” He said he spoke with President Trump about the circumstances surrounding the situation. This will be the most important election year of our lifetimes. ”

President Trump pointed to the large area around the courthouse that was cordoned off by law enforcement as the motorcade arrived. Johnson said he believes there are political motives to keep Trump supporters out of the door.

“I think this is part of a strategy and I just think it’s a travesty of justice,” he said.

Mr. Johnson will be joined by Sens. J.D. Vance (R-Ohio) and Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.), Rep. Byron Donald (R-Fla.), and Rep. Cory Mills (R-Fla.). State), and former Republican candidate Vivek also participated. Ramaswamy and others support Trump in court.

His position as speaker makes him the highest-ranking lawmaker to appear in Trump’s trial so far, and despite the legal troubles and absurd details revealed in the courtroom, House Republicans remain in the lead. It is also a sign of support for the president.

Johnson’s attendance drew criticism from Democrats. Rep. Jim McGovern (D-Mass.) said it was a “stunt” to discredit the House of Representatives and that Americans “deserve better.”