First appeared on FOX: Several prominent Republican lawmakers are attacking figures in their own party who refused to voice their opposition to the guilty verdict handed down at former President Donald Trump’s trial in New York City last week. The group includes former U.N. ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley and former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie.
Republican lawmakers overwhelmingly rushed to Trump’s defense after he was found guilty on Thursday of all 34 counts of falsifying business records, and those closest to the former president are trying to make sure those in the dark are informed so their own shortcomings don’t go unnoticed.
“I think it’s important for Republicans to be united around a basic reality that is clearly recognized by many independents and even a significant number of Democrats: this trial is a sham,” Vivek Ramaswami, a former presidential candidate and staunch Trump supporter, told Fox News Digital.
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Former UN Ambassador Nikki Haley, former President Trump, and former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie (Getty Images)
“It is shameful and un-American that a former US president was convicted of a felony after jurors were told they didn’t even have to agree on the charges,” he said.
Sen. Tommy Tuberville of Alabama struck a more solemn tone, telling Fox that Americans are now experiencing “an all-out war against our constitutional republic.”
“These soft Republicans are so consumed by their hatred of Donald Trump that they are distracting them from the fight to save our country. They need to either fall in line or publicly announce that they prefer a socialist, communist system,” he said.
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On the left is Alabama Republican Senator Tommy Tuberville, and on the right is former Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy. (Getty Images)
“This is about much bigger than Donald Trump. This is about protecting what makes our country the envy of the world. How can true conservatives say they care about America if they stand by and do nothing while the left is destroying it?”
“All Americans should be horrified by the left’s emboldened escalation of a two-tiered judiciary,” Sen. Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee told Fox.
“Joe Biden knows he cannot beat Donald Trump at the polls, so he is weaponizing the judicial system to produce the outcome he wants. Republicans as a party need to unite behind President Trump and condemn this scheme to interfere in our election,” she said.
Sen. Mike Lee of Utah told Fox “Republicans should not be silent during this unprecedented attack on America’s free elections and fair justice system. The stakes are too great.”
Nikki Haley remains silent on Trump’s New York City conviction, defended by other leading Republicans
Republican Senator Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee and Republican Senator Rick Scott of Florida (Getty Images)
“Anyone who calls themselves a leader in our party must stand up and condemn this lawless election interference,” Sen. Rick Scott of Florida told Fox News, sharply criticizing those who have remained silent about Trump, but also taking aim at Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, who is competing for the position of Republican leader.
“Silence is not just indifference; it is support for Joe Biden and the weaponization of our justice system,” he added.
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Following the verdict, McConnell defended Trump, writing in a post on X that “these charges should never have been brought in the first place. I hope the conviction will be overturned on appeal.”
Fox has reached out to representatives for Haley and Christie for comment.
During his time in the Republican presidential primary, Christie frequently spoke out about Trump’s legal troubles on the campaign trail, even predicting that Trump would be a “convicted felon” when he accepted the GOP nomination at the Republican National Convention in July.
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