Rep. Dean Phillips (D-MN) has called on the governor of New York to pardon former President Donald Trump as the former president was convicted on 34 counts of falsifying business records to conceal hush money payments via Mediaite.
It has been noted that Phillips, who unsuccessfully challenged President Joe Biden for the Democratic presidential nomination this cycle, tweeted at Governor Kathy Hochul (D) on Friday night to request a pardon on Trump’s behalf.
“Donald Trump is a serial liar, cheater, and philanderer, a six-time declarer of corporate bankruptcy, an instigator of insurrection, and a convicted felon who thrives on portraying himself as a victim,” Phillips wrote. “@GovKathyHochul should pardon him for the good of the country.”
It has come to light that Phillips is the first Democrat in Congress to call for Trump’s pardon, which seems unlikely.
“Today’s verdict reaffirms that no one is above the law,” Hochul said in a statement shortly after the verdict was handed down on Thursday.
Republicans have reacted to the verdict with predictable ire. It is noted that Trump called the U.S. a “fascist state” during a rant at Trump Tower on Friday morning. The day before, his son demoted the U.S. to “third-world shithole” status. One Newsmax host responded by reminding “you people in your cities” that Republicans own a lot of guns.
Some Republicans are insisting that being a convicted felon will help Trump get elected, as Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) claimed. Phillips wanting Trump pardoned “for the good of the country” echoes the rhetoric deployed by former President Gerald Ford, who pardoned Richard Nixon because, Ford said, prosecuting Nixon would mean “our people would again be polarized in their opinions.”
Trump is under indictment in three other jurisdictions, but those trials are unlikely to start before November’s presidential election. The sentencing in his New York trial is scheduled for July 11.
