‘A sham show trial’: Texas, Tarrant County leaders react to Trump guilty verdict
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott called former President Donald Trump’s hush money trial “sham show” after Trump was convicted of 34 felony charges, joining other Texas and North Texas Republicans in condemning Tuesday’s guilty verdict.
“This was a sham show trial,” Abbott said in a post on X. “The Kangaroo Court will never stand on appeal. Americans deserve better than a sitting U.S. President weaponizing our justice system against a political opponent— all to win an election. We must FIRE Joe Biden in November.”
Abbott was not available for an interview late Thursday afternoon. A spokesperson shared the governor’s post on X.
He was just one of Texas’ elected officials to weigh in on case involving hush money payments to porn star Stormy Daniels.
U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz said it’s “a dark day for America” following the guilty verdict’s announcement, also calling the trial a “sham.”
“It is nothing more than political persecution,” Cruz said in a post on X. “The only reason they prosecuted Donald Trump is because Democrats are terrified that he will win reelection. This disgraceful decision is legally baseless and should be overturned promptly on appeal. Any judge with a modicum of integrity would recognize that this entire trial has been utterly fraudulent.”
U.S. Sen. John Cornyn called the verdict a “disgrace” and said the trail never should have happened.
“Now more than ever, we need to rally around @realdonaldtrump, take back the White House and Senate, and get this country back on track,” he said in a post on X. “The real verdict will be Election Day.”
Cornyn was not available for an interview Thursday, but a spokesperson shared his post on X. A spokesperson for Cruz shared the senator’s written comment when reached with an interview request.
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton said he’s stood by Trump and continues to support the former president.
“From the beginning of this sham trial, I stood by President Trump, and my support for him is stronger than ever,” Paxton said in a post on X. “As Attorney General of Texas, I will unleash every tool at my disposal to fight this blatant corruption and political persecution spewing from New York and the Biden administration.
The guilty verdict is an “absolute travesty of our judicial system,” said Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick.
Patrick said Trump didn’t commit a crime, the prosecution’s “star witness was a convicted liar and an admitted thief” and that the judge was biased against Trump.
“This will be reversed at some point, but the Democrats got what they wanted - to prosecute and persecute a man they know they cannot beat in November,” Patrick said. “If the justice system can do this to a former president, it can do it to anyone in America. That should frighten every American. New York & Biden have turned our country into a third-world-styled justice system that goes after political opponents like you see in Russia or North Korea. It’s a sad day for America.”
Patrick and Paxton both attended the trial, according to Austin TV station KXAN. Paxton’s and Patrick’s offices did not immediately return requests for comment Tuesday.
Texas Agriculture Sid Miller, a Republican, called Tuesday a “deeply disturbing day for our nation.”
He said, “This moment will echo through history and history will not be kind to the perpetrators and cheerleaders of this unparalleled sham.”
Leaders in Tarrant County and have also begun speaking out.
County Judge Tim O’Hare called it the verdict a “weaponization of our justice system by radical leftists” and also called it a “sham verdict.”
Republican Tarrant County court counterpart Manny Ramirez reposted Abbott’s X post. Tarrant GOP Chair Bo French has tweeted multiple times about the verdict since it happened including a poll asking if people were more or less likely to vote for Trump after the “sham trial.”
State Sen. Tan Parker, a Flower Mound Republican, called the verdict a “blatant weaponization of our justice system.”
U.S. Rep. Michael Burgess, a Lewisville Republican, also said he thinks the judge was biased, in a statement shared on social media.
“He had made a decision long before today,” Burgess said on X. “Republicans across America will support President Trump and will fight for the judicial system that our founding fathers intended.”
A New York jury reached its verdict Thursday after deliberations that spanned two days.
Judge Juan Merchan scheduled sentencing in the trial for July 11, according to the Associated Press.
Rep. Beth Van Duyne, an Irving Republican, in a news release said Trump had been “politically prosecuted” and called the district attorney who charged Trump and the judge “corrupt.”
“The American people know this entire process has been an abomination that we would condemn if it occurred in another country,” Van Duyne said. “We will not stand for this. We will take our country back and stop the radical, Marxist Democrats from doing more harm to our nation, and we will defend President Trump, no matter what disgraceful attacks are thrown his way.”
US. Rep. Roger Williams, a Willow Park Republican, said “the far-left has led a relentless witch hunt to silence the will of the American people, and a sham trial against President Trump,” in a statement shared on X.
Democrats also weighed in on the verdict.
“Today’s guilty verdict underscores that nobody is above the law—not even a former president of the United States,” said U.S. Rep. Marc Veasey, a Fort Worth Democrat in a post on X.
U.S. Rep. Jasmine Crockett said her heart breaks for the country.
“How did we get here?! When did we stop requiring some darned decency of the most powerful person on Earth?!,” she said in a post on X. “The grand jurors, the prosecutors, the judge, the witnesses & this jury deserve so much more than they will receive. This was a brave undertaking in an unnecessarily violent & politically charged America. FYI, today was a win for the rule of law!”
Democrat County Commissioner Alisa Simmons said, “Today got me thinking. Trump remained out of jail during his trial” then she mentioned that there are many inmates at the Tarrant Jail awaiting their day in court.
Democratic state Rep. Chris Turner, who represents portions of Simmons precinct in southeast Tarrant County, questioned whether “responsible Republican leaders” would ask Trump to drop out of the presidential race.
Turner in a later tweet said “between the Daniel Perry verdict and the Trump verdict, it seems Republicans really aren’t into the jury trial concept anymore.”
Perry, who shot and killed a U.S. Air Force veteran protester at a Black Lives Matter protest in Austin in 2020, was pardoned by Abbott on May 16.
French seemed to counter Democrats’ reactions to the verdict and said they remind him of “the savages dancing in the street on 9/11.”
French then, in another tweet, encouraged his followers to donate to Trump.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates.
This story was originally published May 30, 2024 at 4:59 PM.
