Indian American Republicans Rally Behind ‘Convicted Felon’ Trump; Democrats Applaud Jury’s Decision
- Vice presidential hopefuls like Vivek Ramaswamy and Tulsi Gabbard slammed the conviction, while Democrat lawmakers and critics welcomed it.
Donald Trump’s historic conviction in his hush money trial drew angry reactions from supporters, while his detractors welcomed the guilty verdict. A New York jury found the former president guilty of all 34 counts of falsifying business records to cover up a hush-money payment to porn star Stormy Daniels, making him the first former U.S. president to be convicted of a crime. Vice presidential hopefuls like Vivek Ramaswamy and Tulsi Gabbard rallied behind him, as did right-wing political commentator Dinesh D’Souza and former Trump administration official and loyalist Kash Patel.
Speaking on Fox Network, Kash Patel said he is “working on a measure to subpoena Judge Merchan’s daughter who has made $15,000,000 off this trial.”
Just hours before Trump was found guilty, Patel slammed Democrats for their handling of the trial. “They know they’re gonna lose an appeal, but appeal is two years away and the election is four months away,” he said, talking to John Solomon on his podcast “John Solomon Reports.” He further called the trial a “distraction” from the Biden family’s own legal woes. He also slammed FBI leadership for turning it into “an abysmal law enforcement agency,” but expressed optimism that the bureau could be fixed.
Ramaswamy, a former GOP presidential contender, said the decision to convict “will backfire.” In a post on X, he criticized Judge Juan Merchan, the New York judge who presided over the trial. “The prosecutor is a politician who promised to nail Trump,” he wrote. “The judge’s daughter is a Democrat operative who literally *raised dollars from the trial* while her father presided over it. The jury instructions said they didn’t have to agree on the crime to convict.”
Ramaswamy suspended his presidential campaign in January and endorsed Trump. The 38-year-old entrepreneur announced in Des Moines on Jan. 15 after a disappointing fourth-place finish in the Iowa caucuses. He entered the 2024 race with no prior political experience. Founder of the biotech firm Roivant Sciences and author of the book “Woke Inc., he funded most of his campaign from his fortunes.
Former Hawaii congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard, a 2020 Democratic presidential candidate and the first Hindu American in Congress, also expressed her support for Trump. Speaking at an event to promote her book, “For Love of Country: Leave the Democrat Party Behind,” at the Richard Nixon Library and Museum in Yorba Linda, California, May 30, she said she’d be “honored” if asked to run as Trump’s running mate, as she has “dedicated” her “entire adult life to serving our country.” Amid applause from the audience, she said she “can’t not talk about what’s in the news today,” and argued that the jury’s verdict is a “perfect example” of “dictator-type action” coming from President Biden.
Earlier this year, there were reports that Gabbard was counseling Trump on foreign policy matters. The discussions between the two included “policy proposals, military entanglements overseas, and how the Defense Department should be run in a second Trump term,” The Washington Post reported. “The talks are part of a broader conversation about how Trump would manage the Pentagon differently if voters award him a second term.” The two have met in person at least once last year, the report added.
In a series of posts on X, right-wing political commentator, author, filmmaker, and conspiracy theorist Dinesh D’Souza slammed the Democrats for the jury’s verdict. “First they rigged and stole the 2020 election. And now we have a rigged criminal trial of the former President. The ball is now in your court, America. How will you react to this in November?”
Interestingly, well-regarded conservative pundit Ramesh Ponnuru conspicuously remained silent on the momentous verdict in New York. He was content to retweet a New York Magazine commentary that was cautiously critical of the Trump case.
On the other side, Democrats and progressives celebrated the verdict and lauded the jury for their decision. “A jury of 12 courageous people put aside all biases to listen to evidence from the defense and prosecution,” Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.) wrote on X. “They have rendered Donald Trump guilty on all 34 counts. No one is above the law, not even a former president. This is an important moment for accountability in America.” She also criticized the former president for continuing “to attack the judge, the jury, and indeed the entire justice system,” despite being a convicted felon.
Joining her was her colleague Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.), who posed a question to his followers. “The 2024 election now comes down to this: Do you want a convicted felon in the White House? Or do you want Scranton Joe — who fights and delivers for working families everyday?”
Venture capitalist Vinod Khosla also weighed in. “Time to have Florida ban felons from running for office before they ban them from voting,” he wrote on X.
Important Democratic voices like Preet Bharara, former United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York; lawyer Neal Katyal and MSNBC journalist Ali Velsi weren’t as verbose as the others, but were as effective with their one-line posts.
Some like Manu Varghese, former director of the White House Military Office in the Biden administration, without directly commenting on the conviction, wrote, “Today and every day. Proud to have worked for and continue to support Joe Biden.”
Vivek Ramaswami, Tulsi Gabbard, Kash Patel, Dinesh D’Souza on one side Pramila Jayapal, Ro Khanna, Vinod Khosla, Preet Bharara on the other side is as expected. Only some have credibility; they care for the high standards a presidential candidate is required to have.