Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY), who in 2021 said former President Donald Trump was “morally responsible” for the January 6 attack on the Capitol, defended the presumptive GOP presidential nominee today after Trump was found guilty on 34 felony counts related falsifying business documents in New York.
McConnell wrote on X: “These charges never should have been brought in the first place. I expect the conviction to be overturned on appeal.”
Fellow Republican Senator Susan Collins (R-ME) also defended the now convicted felon Trump on X. She wrote at length: “It is fundamental to our American system of justice that the government prosecutes cases because of alleged criminal conduct regardless of who the defendant happens to be. In this case the opposite has happened.”
She added: “The district attorney, who campaigned on a promise to prosecute Donald Trump, brought these charges precisely because of who the defendant was rather than because of any specified criminal conduct. The political underpinnings of this case further blur the lines between the judicial system and the electoral system, and this verdict likely will be the subject of a protracted appeals process.”
A good reminder of why Susan Collins was the last straw for me to finally leave the GOP. She convinced me that there was no moderate Republican party or sensible Republican center worth saving. https://t.co/upir7KOirv
— Tom Nichols (@RadioFreeTom) May 31, 2024
Conservative former U.S. Naval War College political science professor Tom Nichols replied to Collins’ statement: “A good reminder of why Susan Collins was the last straw for me to finally leave the GOP. She convinced me that there was no moderate Republican party or sensible Republican center worth saving.”
Note: Former Arkansas Governor and former 2024 GOP presidential candidate Asa Hutchinson responded to the guilty verdict with what Nichols would likely agree is “sensible” by writing: “It is not easy to see a former President and the presumptive GOP nominee convicted of felony crimes; but the jury verdict should be respected. An appeal is in order but let’s not diminish the significance of this verdict.”