After a Manhattan jury’s guilty verdict against former President Donald Trump, a chorus of Republicans are decrying the justice system and the trial, including some vulnerable lawmakers running for reelection in swing districts.
Some of the lawmakers who have come to Mr. Trump’s defense hail from districts that President Biden won in 2020. Reps. Mike Lawler and Anthony D’Esposito, both Republicans representing crucial swing districts in New York, have styled themselves as moderates but came out swinging for the former president after the verdict.
Mr. Biden won both their districts by double digits, and both lawmakers are facing tough elections that Democrats hope to flip.
Mr. Lawler accused Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, New York Attorney General Letitia James and New York Gov. Kathy Hochul — all Democrats — of waging “political war” against Mr. Trump. Mr. D’Esposito said that Mr. Trump’s conviction was done to help Democrats keep the White House.
“The corrupt Alvin Bragg & his left wing allies have completed their shameful witch hunt against President Trump by railroading a conviction through a partisan New York court in an attempt to help Joe Biden’s failing campaign,” Mr. D’Esposito said in a statement. “Our best revenge is victory in November!”
The two were not alone in their sentiments, with other freshman members of the New York delegation, such as Reps. Nick LaLota, Brandon Williams and Marc Molinaro, joining in to bash the verdict. Each of them are also in toss-up seats, according to the Cook Political Report.
The New Yorkers were joined by other moderates facing tough reelections across the country, including Rep. Don Bacon, a Republican who has held on to his seat since 2017 even though Mr. Biden won his suburban Nebraska district by nearly 7 points.
“This is an unprecedented prosecution for a crime very seldom charged, led by a prosecutor who campaigned on going after Trump,” Mr. Bacon said. “That undermines the credibility of the verdict. I have trust in our legal system which includes the appeals process.”
House Republicans have hitched their hopes of maintaining and growing their thin majority on Mr. Trump’s presence at the top of the ticket in November. To do so, the National Republican Congressional Committee will have to defend nearly 20 vulnerable seats across the country, most of which are in New York and California.
Democratic political strategists took notice of the wave of support for Mr. Trump, and hope to capitalize on it on Election Day. The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee noted numerous vulnerable Republicans have already endorsed the former president.
“If House Republicans were serious about justice and upholding the rule of law, they would stop throwing their support behind a convicted felon for president,” said DCCC spokesperson Courtney Rice. “Instead, we’ll hold them accountable at the ballot box in November.”
But crossing Mr. Trump, or even being perceived as not supporting him after the verdict, will be a risky move for Republican candidates.
That played out on Thursday, when former Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan, a Republican running for the Senate, took a neutral position on the news of the former president’s guilt, urging people to respect the rule of law “regardless of the result.”
“You just ended your campaign,” former Trump adviser Chris LaCivita said in response on X.
• Alex Miller can be reached at amiller@washingtontimes.com.