Trump loyalists: 'Banana republic leftists' create 'dark day' with indictment
Lansing — Former President Donald Trump's outspoken supporters in the battleground state of Michigan brushed aside news of his indictment Thursday and touted his chances of winning another term in the nation's top office regardless of the criminal case unfolding against him.
Their reactions came hours after a grand jury in New York voted to indict Trump on charges that involved payments made in 2016 to silence claims of an alleged extramarital sexual encounter, according to the Associated Press. The full details of the allegations and the evidence behind them have not become public yet.
Alvin Bragg, the Manhattan district attorney and a Democrat, brought the case against Trump, which marked the first time a former American president has been indicted.
The Michigan Republican Party tweeted that Thursday was "a dark day in American history."
"Our government is increasingly being weaponized against citizens," said Kristina Karamo, the party's chairwoman. "Today it will be President Trump, tomorrow it will be you."
Trump is campaigning for a second term as president. In 2016, he won Michigan by about 10,704 votes and the job in the White House by defeating Democrat Hillary Clinton. But in 2020, Democrat Joe Biden beat Trump in Michigan by about 154,000 votes on his way to unseating the Republican incumbent.
Despite being the only U.S. president ever to be impeached twice by the House, Trump maintains a following in Michigan. His endorsed candidates for governor, secretary of state and attorney general won the GOP's nominations last year but lost in the general election to Democratic incumbents.
Tudor Dixon, the Trump-backed gubernatorial nominee who lost to Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, described Thursday's indictment as "a legal disaster and a clear manipulation of our justice system by Democrats to attack a Republican political opponent."
"Democrats and far-left prosecutors should be focused on locking up violent criminals instead of pursuing political retribution against a former president and leading 2024 candidate," Dixon said.
State Rep. Matt Maddock, a Milford Republican and longtime Trump supporter, said the indictment was in line with prosecutorial trends that tend to “release criminals and persecute citizens.”
“It’s no surprise that the banana republic leftist elites are busy attacking the ONLY leader who has demonstrated that he will fight back against their tyranny,” Maddock said in a text message. “… Trump will prevail but our justice system may not.”
Matt Maddock's wife, Meshawn Maddock, is the former co-chairwoman of the Michigan Republican Party. She said the indictment was "another left wing fantasy."
Garrett Soldano, a Republican and former candidate for Michigan governor, said he "100%" believed Trump remained the front runner for the GOP nomination for president in 2024.
Democrats will care about the indictment, but Republicans and people in the middle of the political spectrum won't, said Soldano, a chiropractor from Mattawan.
"I think they’re going to do everything that they can to stop his momentum," Soldano said.
Nikki Haley, the former South Carolina governor and United Nations ambassador, and Perry Johnson, a businessman from Michigan, have already launched campaigns for the Republican presidential nomination. Others are expected to join the race, including potentially Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and former Vice President Mike Pence of Indiana.
In the U.S. House, U.S. Rep. Jack Bergman, R-Watersmeet, said Bragg was pursuing a "politically motivated witch hunt" as part of an "endless quest to destroy former President Donald Trump and those who support him."
"This is unacceptable and will cause irreversible damage to our Justice system," he said in a statement. "The American People deserve immediate transparency and truth from the Manhattan DA in this matter."
U.S. Rep. Tim Walberg, R-Tipton, complained on Twitter that the indictment was the result of "activist prosecutors" like Bragg, who the veteran congressman said created "soft-on-crime laws, fueling the crime wave."
"It’s disgraceful that violent crime is acceptable to Bragg, but he’s willing to overreach with prosecutorial discretion and go after rivals," he wrote.
The House GOP, Walberg added, "will not tolerate it."
Former Republican Rep. Peter Meijer of Grand Rapids Township, who was one of 10 House Republicans and the only freshman member to vote to impeach Trump after the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol, and who lost a primary in 2022 to Trump-endorsed candidate John Gibbs, also condemned the indictment.
"We are crossing a dangerous Rubicon for our democracy because a soft-on-crime DA needed to fulfill a campaign pledge to go after Trump, even on such a pathetic set of charges," Meijer told The News. "This is a moment we will look back on as uniquely corrosive and destructive for our Republic."
Bragg inherited the years-long Trump investigation when he took office in January 2022.
On the other side of the aisle, U.S. Rep. Rashia Tlaib, D-Detroit, tweeted Thursday evening that the charges against Trump were an indication that "no one is above the law. Not even a former, twice-impeached president of the United States."
Likewise, U.S. Rep. Debbie Dingell, D-Ann Arbor, said all Americans are "entitled to equal justice under the law and I implore everyone to remain calm and peaceful."
"We are a nation of laws and due process, and now our judicial system will do its job," Dingell said.
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