North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum, seen as a potential running mate for Donald Trump, asserted that the outcome of November’s election will not hinge on the former president’s recent guilty conviction in the New York “hush money” trial.
“While this is interesting and it’s captivating right now to a lot of people, the election is not gonna turn on this trial,” Burgum said on “Face the Nation” Sunday.
A Manhattan jury recently found Trump guilty of falsifying business records to hide a payment to adult film star Stormy Daniels before the 2016 presidential election. Republicans have criticized the verdict, alleging bias despite the jury’s composition of seven men and five women, all approved by both defense and prosecution.
Burgum echoed skepticism regarding the verdict, noting that most Americans haven’t closely followed the trial due to time constraints. He emphasized that voters will prioritize issues like inflation when making their decisions in November.
“As this moment in time passes, when we have the election coming this fall, people are going to make a decision about, are they better off today than they were four years ago?” Burgum said, noting that Americans already had a chance to live their lives under a Trump administration. “Americans are gonna come back to the issues that affect them because this trial outcome doesn’t affect them, the inflation affects them.”
According to a CBS News poll, only a third of Americans followed the trial closely, with just over half believing the verdict was fair. Republicans overwhelmingly viewed Trump as being treated unfairly.
Burgum, who withdrew from the presidential race in December and endorsed Trump, denied reports that Trump sought $1 billion in donations from oil executives in exchange for regulatory favors. He claimed to have attended the meeting and stated that no such request was made.
However, Burgum acknowledged that Trump discussed challenges faced by the oil industry and denied accusations of Trump targeting the industry for campaign financing. He argued that existing environmental regulations are detrimental to the country.
