Former New York Congressman Lee Zeldin (R) described former President Donald Trump’s conviction in the hush money trial as “election interference” and suggested that it would motivate more people to support the former president.
Speaking on the Thursday edition of the “Just the News, No Noise” TV show, Zeldin said, “This is election interference. This is a weaponization of the criminal justice system, and the jury instructions were that final reminder.”
Zeldin’s comments referred to the instructions given by New York Judge Juan Merchan, who told the jury that they did not need unanimity to convict Trump. This means that some jurors could agree on one crime and others on another, and the judge would treat it as a unanimous verdict.
A New York jury found Trump guilty on all 34 counts of falsifying business records during his 2016 presidential campaign to conceal a hush money payment to adult film actress Stormy Daniels. The payment was allegedly made to keep quiet about an alleged sexual encounter between Trump and Daniels.
Trump, who is also the presumptive Republican presidential nominee for 2024, has become the first U.S. president to be found guilty of felony crimes.
Zeldin predicted that the conviction would intensify the passion of Trump’s supporters and motivate them to work harder to return him to the White House. “I think on all fronts, people will be more motivated than ever,” he said. “You think that President Trump had passionate supporters before? You haven’t seen anything compared to the passion when they are waking up tomorrow morning asking, ‘What else can I do to help make sure that President Trump is back in the White House?'”
“I think that there’s gonna be a whole lot more support coming to President Trump for a very good reason,” Zeldin added.
