Republicans Visit Trump's Trial, Signaling Alarming Loyalty & Attacking Judicial System
GOP leaders, including Speaker Johnson, rally around Trump at trial to help him subvert his gag order - showcasing authoritarian loyalty and proving there isn't a line they aren't willing to cross.
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Donald Trump’s New York criminal trial has become a destination for Republican sycophants seeking to publicly demonstrate their loyalty to the presumptive Republican nominee, who is currently facing 91 criminal charges across four indictments.
Over the past couple of weeks, over a dozen Republican lawmakers and potential Vice Presidential running mates flocked to New York City to defend Trump and attack Judge Juan Merchan’s family, doing what Trump can’t do under his gag order. They all showed up in their matching ties and almost verbatim talking points, looking like an authoritarian 1960s boy band.
The attendees included Speaker of the House Mike Johnson (R-LA); Potential Vice Presidential running mates like North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum, Vivek Ramaswamy, Senator Tim Scott (R-SC), and Senator J.D. Vance (R-OH); Senators Rick Scott (R-FL) and Tommy Tuberville (R-AL); House Republican Reps. Matt Gaetz (R-FL), Andy Biggs (R-AZ), Bob Good (R-VA), Byron Donalds (R-FL), Nicole Malliotakis (R-NY), Lauren Boebert (R-CO), Michael Cloud (R-TX), Eli Crane (R-AZ), Diana Harshbarger (R-TN), Cory Mills (R-FL), Ralph Norman (R-SC), Andy Ogles (R-TN), Anna Paulina Luna (R-FL), and Mike Waltz (R-FL); And Attorneys General from Alabama, Iowa, and Texas.
I think it’s important to name all of them. Their behavior was objectively disgraceful, and voters should know who participated.
These Republicans all seemingly read off the same script, repeating Trump’s lies and attacking Judge Merchan's daughter. Public Notice’s
created a compilation video of these Republican attacks for ’s Popular Info. Legum wrote a great article speculating whether this could be a criminal conspiracy to violate Trump’s gag order on his behalf. The gag order prohibits Trump from "directing others to make public statements” and to attack witnesses, the jury, court staff, or the Judge’s family.Gag order violations aside, the other statements made to target the legitimacy of Trump’s criminal proceedings were unrelenting from this gang of Republicans. Speaker Mike Johnson’s Tuesday appearance at the Manhattan Criminal Court was the most notable and troubling in this regard.
In remarks to reporters, Speaker Johnson falsely attacked the hush money/election interference case as an illegitimate “sham,” claiming that the prosecution of Trump is about politics, not justice. Johnson ironically called the case “election interference.”
The Associated Press reported on this with language that met the gravity of the moment:
It was a remarkable moment in modern American politics: The House speaker amplifying Trump’s defense and turning the Republican Party against the federal and state legal systems that are foundational to the U.S. government and a cornerstone of democracy.
In another significant moment that I think deserves more attention, Speaker Johnson said, “I’m working with Chairman Jordan of the House Judiciary Committee, Chairman Comer of our Oversight Committee, on measures to reign in the abuses of Special Counsel Jack Smith.”
You read that right. The Republican Speaker of the House openly declared that he’s working with fellow Republican lawmakers to interfere in active criminal proceedings to protect the presumptive Republican nominee. This was blatant corruption in broad daylight.
Some important context that makes Speaker Johnson’s comments even worse is his role in the effort to overturn the 2020 election, the plot Special Counsel Jack Smith is currently prosecuting Trump and his allies for.
Mike Johnson didn’t take a passive role in Trump’s effort to overturn the 2020 election - he played a key role. The New York Times labeled him “the most important architect of the Electoral College objections.”
Johnson led the amicus brief that sought to invalidate the 2020 election results in Georgia, Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin. Johnson organized over 100 Republicans to sign on to this amicus brief, which was widely panned as spreading false allegations of voter fraud by legal experts.
For Speaker Johnson to use his office to target the lead investigator and prosecutor of the plot to overturn the 2020 election is beyond improper. It’s verging on obstruction.
Unfortunately, the MAGA Loyalty Olympics at Trump’s trial also showcased some ominous signs for the future.
Matt Gaetz, a Republican congressman who was complicit in Trump’s effort to overturn the 2020 election, echoed what Donald Trump said to the Proud Boys before they would later unleash violence on January 6.
Gaetz is not being subtle. While some say he’s trolling, it’s clear that he’s saying the Republican Party will once again get Trump’s back, whether that means potentially seeking to overturn the 2024 election or implementing his authoritarian second-term agenda.
These Republicans have made clear where they stand.
This was not merely a declaration that Republicans would stand in Trump’s defense against his legitimate criminal liability. This was a declaration of absolute loyalty to a man who is seeking to reshape the federal government into a tool of the far-right.
These Republicans are making clear there isn’t a norm they aren’t willing to break. There isn’t a line they aren’t willing to cross. There isn’t a court order they aren’t willing to help Trump violate. They will do whatever it takes to get Trump and themselves re-elected. It’s all an amoral power play.
This is the kind of loyalty Project 2025 is currently screening for to fill the rank-and-file civil servant roles Trump plans to purge in a potential second term.
I know I say this often, but every American needs to look at the behavior of these Republicans as an indication of what to expect in a second Trump term. The guardrails that once existed in Trump’s first term simply won’t exist in his second. This is all on the ballot in November.
My heart skipped several beats reading your very important article.
Thank you for your important work to help save our country.