Tennessee Republicans are reiterating their support for former President Donald Trump after a New York jury found him guilty on all counts in a history-making criminal case. The trial centered on allegations Trump falsified business records to make hush money payments to adult film star Stormy Daniels.
Gov. Bill Lee dismissed the validity of the jury’s decision.
“A politicized justice system does nothing to serve the American people. Voters in Tennessee and across the country recognize this verdict for what it is — a political attack — and they’ll bring a change on Election Day in November,” Gov. Bill Lee said on social media.
A politicized justice system does nothing to serve the American people.
Voters in Tennessee and across the country recognize this verdict for what it is — a political attack — and they’ll bring a change on Election Day in November.
— Gov. Bill Lee (@GovBillLee) May 31, 2024
U.S. Sen. Marsha Blackburn called the verdict “undemocratic and un-American.” The Tennessee Republican was one of a dozen names Trump mentioned as possible vice president picks for his upcoming bid for the White House. In recently released audio, Trump likened her skills on the campaign trail to the “Energizer bunny,” saying that she would constantly be going from “stop to stop to stop.”
Today’s verdict is an undemocratic and un-American weaponization of our justice system against Trump, who Joe Biden knows he can’t beat at the ballot box. pic.twitter.com/NreB66KjLf
— Marsha Blackburn (@VoteMarsha) May 30, 2024
Blackburn’s fellow U.S. Senator, Bill Hagerty, criticized the timing of Trump’s upcoming sentencing. The former president is due in court on July 11, four days before the Republican National Convention is set to begin in Milwaukee.
U.S. Congressman Andy Ogles of Maury County called the verdict “an embarrassment.” His Democratic colleague in the House, U.S. Congressman Steve Cohen from Memphis, celebrated the outcome.
The rule of law, which the United States is founded upon, shone bright today. In America, no one is above the law.
— Steve Cohen (@RepCohen) May 30, 2024
Democratic state lawmakers also reacted to the jury’ decision. State Sen. Jeff Yarbro, D-Nashville, said, “no man is above the law.”
Maybe so entirely baked into the politics as not to matter electorally.
But it says a lot about the good old United States of America that no man is above the law. And that is a good thing.
— Jeff Yarbro (@yarbro) May 30, 2024
“This is an interesting time in our history,” wrote Senate Minority Leader Raumesh Akbari, D-Memphis. “And how we react determines our future. Democracy must rise above politics.”
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