Sen. Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on Thursday denounced the jury verdict in President Donald Trump’s New York hush-money lawsuit as “highly undemocratic” and warned that it will “backfire” on Democrats in November’s presidential election.
“America deserves a president who can win at the ballot box without undermining the separation of powers of government or weaponizing the courts. You can’t save our democracy by destroying it first,” Kennedy said. I wrote it to X. “Democrats are afraid of losing at the ballot box, so they’re instead going after President Trump in court.”
“I am also running against President Trump in this election. The difference is that I take issue with his record: his Covid lockdowns. His terrible environmental practices. His cozy relationship with corporate America,” he added, listing other aspects of Trump’s record that should be scrutinised, including his “support for the war machine” and “servicing the billionaire class”.
Kennedy argued that Democrats will not challenge Trump’s record because they promote the same policies as Trump.
Trump became the first former and current president to be convicted of a felony when a Manhattan jury found him guilty of falsifying business records on Thursday. He was convicted on all 34 charges, marking a landmark in U.S. history.
Trump slammed the ruling, calling it a “rigged trial with a conflicting interest judge.” His supporters, as well as Republican opponents, rushed to his defense.
“These charges should never have been filed in the first place, and I am hopeful that the conviction will be overturned on appeal,” Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said on X.
Kennedy is running an unlikely independent campaign to challenge both Trump and Biden.
The ruling has created uncertainty about how it will affect voters heading into the November election, including third-party voters and those who voted for Trump rival Nikki Haley, but many Republicans believe the ruling will only strengthen the former president’s political standing.
