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Texas Governor Greg Abbott has accused New York prosecutors of politically targeting former President Trump unfairly in his recent hush money trial.
Abbott, speaking on CNBC’s “Squawk Box,” described the trial as “persecution” rather than “prosecution.” He added, “I’m a former trial court judge, and the reality is, the rulings made by this trial judge in New York are completely wrong in so many respects. Look at the jury charge alone.”
Governor Abbott believes there is a strong chance that Trump will overturn his guilty verdict. Abbott said, “There’s every reason to expect this decision to be overturned, but also most Americans view this as a miscarriage of justice. And you can see it in the fundraising numbers, the polling numbers, that Trump has been able to receive in the aftermath of it. And also, maybe in part because this, maybe for other reasons, you’re seeing Trump gain more support in the Black community, in the Hispanic community, in all communities across the United States of America. This is not a prosecution, this is a persecution.”
Other Republican leaders echoed Abbott’s sentiments. House Speaker Mike Johnson and Senator Marco Rubio both criticized the verdict. Rubio, appearing on Fox News’s “Hannity,” expressed concern that the conviction sets a dangerous precedent. “I think what this shows today is that they can go after a former president with a ridiculous charge like this and gain a conviction, they can go after anybody.”
Speaker Johnson, on the day of the verdict, called the jury’s decision a “shameful day in American history,” accusing the legal system of being weaponized against Trump.
This comes after Trump made history as the first former US president to be convicted of a felony. He was found guilty of falsifying business records to conceal an alleged affair during his 2016 campaign.
