https://www.huffpost.com/entry/donald-trump-vp-hopefuls-trial_n_661e4b49e4b015646f7906ae
Trump Potential VP Picks Defend Him Amid Criminal Trial
Allies of former President Donald Trump, who are reportedly on his vice presidential shortlist, rushed to his defense Monday on the first day of his historic hush money criminal trial in New York, claiming that the charges against him are politically motivated.
Trump last year was charged with 34 counts of falsifying business records to conceal a hush money payment he made to adult film actress Stormy Daniels ahead of the 2016 presidential election. Trump has maintained his innocence, baselessly claiming that the case is an effort by Democratic prosecutors to block his White House bid.
And those Republicans, who are reportedly being considered by Trump to join the ticket, are eager to be seen taking his side.
Sen. Tim Scott (R-S. C.), who endorsed the former president after he ended his own White House bid, claimed the case shows Democrats will do anything to stop Trump from winning in November.
“What the radical Left is doing is not just election interference, it’s election engineering,” Scott wrote. “They will try everything (and fail) to stop Donald J. Trump.”
Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders (R-Ark.) who once served as White House press secretary in Trump’s administration, dismissed the entire case as a “witch hunt.”
Rep. Byron Donalds (R-Fla.) said the trial will “backfire” against the Democrats, calling Trump’s prosecutions “stupid,” and adding that Americans will take note of the fact that Trump would have a hard time campaigning as he has to appear in court for the duration of the trial.
“This is nothing more than a political axe to grind from the radical left and Joe Biden,” Donalds told NewsNation. “I think that him not being able to do as many rallies, people are going to understand that part.”
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