Those who were considered potential vice presidential candidates for former President Trump were scathing in their condemnation of the guilty verdict handed down by a jury in New York City early that afternoon.
The jury found Trump guilty on all 34 counts of falsifying business records related to the payment of hush money to adult actress Stormy Daniels ahead of the 2016 presidential election.
“This verdict is an affront to the rule of law and the Constitution,” Sen. J.D. Vance of Ohio wrote on X. “Democrats, with the help of Soros-funded prosecutors and Biden-donor judges, trumped up felony charges to ‘get Trump’ and then manipulated the entire case to achieve this result. This is not justice, this is election interference.”
From left to right: Ohio Senator J.D. Vance, Florida Senator Marco Rubio, Arkansas Governor Sarah Sanders, and North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum. (Getty Images)
Florida Senator Marco Rubio called the verdict a “total travesty” and a “mockery for our justice system.”
“This political show trial, run by an openly Biden-promoting judge whose daughter is profiting from the trial, with a jury drawn from the most liberal county in America, absurd charges and ridiculous jury instructions that guarantee a guilty verdict. The Biden- and Trump-crazed left will stop at nothing to stay in power,” Rubio wrote on X.
Former presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswami predicted the trial would ultimately backfire, citing District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s promise to “get Trump” and Judge Juan Marchan’s daughter as a “Democratic Party activist,” while Arkansas Governor Sarah Sanders denounced the trial as “politically motivated” and a “sham.”
“The American people decide the election. Donald Trump will be our next president,” she wrote to X.
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis wrote, “Today’s verdict is the culmination of a legal process bent to the political will of those involved: left-wing prosecutors, a partisan judge and a jury that reflects one of the most liberal places in America — all in an effort to ‘get’ Donald Trump.”
“That this case, involving alleged misdemeanor business record violations from nearly a decade ago, was even brought is a testament to the political corruption of the justice system in a place like New York City,” he wrote, “especially considering that this same district attorney routinely condones criminal activity that endangers law-abiding citizens in his jurisdiction.”
“This lawsuit would not have been filed, the judge would not have decided in the same way, and the jury would not have convicted if the defendant had not been Donald Trump. In America, the rule of law should be applied calmly and fairly, not subject to the political agenda of rigged courts,” he added.
