Speaker Johnson Pulls Surprise Move For Trump After Guilty Conviction
Following the jury's 34-count conviction of former President Donald Trump in the controversial New York hush-money case, House Speaker Mike Johnson has responded strongly.
In an interview with Fox News, Johnson condemned what he described as “the weaponization of our justice system” and predicted that Trump would “appeal this absurd verdict.”
When host Ainsley Earhardt asked Johnson about the implications of the sentencing date set for July 11th, which is after the first debate, she inquired, “How is that going to affect the RNC? What if he has home confinement? He can’t go? Does the convention still happen? Does he zoom in on the screen? How does he campaign if he goes to prison? What does that look like? Will he be in prison with the Secret Service on Election Day?”
Johnson responded, “We’re in uncharted waters, right? Obviously, there is no prohibition against him being elected president, even if he is confined somewhere. But I certainly hope that doesn’t happen. You know, there is lots of discussion, we talked about it all last night, there will be more discussion today about how we might adjust things in the schedule and all of that.”
He continued, “But I will tell you what will happen. I predict this will increase turnout on our side. He will win, decisively. He will become the next president. He was already, as I said, crushing Joe Biden in the polls. I think as this plays out and people get more and more frustrated about it, I think it will help us and that huge enthusiasm gap that already existed between the Trump and Biden campaigns will be even wider. People now see Donald Trump as a symbol of something. He is more than just an individual. He is a symbol of fighting back against this government corruption, the deep state, the bureaucracy and all the rest. And we need his leadership in the White House now more than ever.”
Co-host Brian Kilmeade asked, “I mean, just seeing for the last five or six weeks, everything just stopped, everyone was watching, and it was the number one story in big and small towns across the country. You wonder, the other three cases, the other three indictments, will they see the light of day? No one can say for sure. But we expect at any time the Supreme Court to rule on immunity. You have such a rich legal background. What should we all be looking for there? I know what you are hoping for. What are some of the rulings it could have?”
Johnson replied, “Well, look, I do believe that the Court needs to address that clearly. We have to set a standard here. There is a really important principle of immunity for the commander-in-chief.”
He elaborated, “I mean, that’s always been part of our legal tradition and it makes good sense. You can’t have somebody sitting in the Oval Office worried about some rogue prosecutor somewhere, some Soros-funded D.A. or some lawyer that’s going to come after them for their decisions.”
In conclusion, Johnson emphasized, “So, that principle needs to be made concrete and needs to be expanded. I think this court will do the right thing because they see the abuse of the system right now. And that’s the greatest peril here of all, at the end of the day. This transcends even Donald Trump. It’s about whether or not the people believe in our institutions, our system of justice. There’s nothing larger than that in our system.”
Conservative broadcaster Megyn Kelly asserted that Democrats would “rue the day” they used the legal system to “corrupt a presidential election” following the New York jury's conviction of Trump.
On “The Megyn Kelly Show,” Kelly expressed her dissatisfaction with the jury's decision to find Trump guilty on all 34 counts in the hush-money trial on X, the former Twitter platform.
“Guilty on all counts. The country is disgraced. Alvin Bragg should be disbarred. They will rue the day they unleashed this lawfare to corrupt a presidential election,” Kelly wrote to her 3 million followers.