After being found guilty on 34 counts of forging business records to hide hush money payments, Rep. Dean Phillips (D-MN) wants the governor of New York to pardon Donald Trump.
Phillips tried to run against President Joe Biden for the Democratic presidential nomination this time but failed. On Friday night, Phillips tweeted at Governor Kathy Hochul (D) to ask for a pardon on Trump’s behalf.
Phillips wrote, “Donald Trump is a serial liar, cheater, and philanderer. He has put six companies into bankruptcy, started uprisings, and is a convicted felon who loves making himself look like a victim.” “He should be forgiven by Gov. Kathy Hochul for the sake of the country.”
Phillips is the first Democrat in Congress to ask Trump to pardon him, which doesn’t seem likely.
“Today’s verdict makes it clear that no one is above the law again,” Hochul said in a statement Thursday, soon after the verdict was announced.
It was no surprise that Republicans were angry about the decision. During a rant at Trump Tower on Friday morning, Trump called the United States a “fascist state.” The day before, his son called the United States a “third-world shithole.” As an answer, one Newsmax host told “you people in your cities” that Republicans have a lot of guns.
Even though everyone is freaking out, some Republicans are still saying that Trump’s criminal record will help him win, just like Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) said.
Phillips’s claim that Trump should be pardoned “for the good of the country” is similar to what former President Gerald Ford said when he pardoned Richard Nixon. Ford said that prosecuting Nixon would make “our people would again be polarized in their opinions.”
Trump is charged in three other places, but those trials probably won’t begin until after the election in November. On July 11, he will be sentenced in his New York hearing.
