Stuart Stevens, a conservative author with an extensive background as a leading Republican campaign strategist, is condemning the GOP for what he’s calling “transparently desperate” ploys after Trump was found guilty in a Manhattan courtroom.
Trump was on trial for dozens of felony allegations of falsifying business records, and he was convicted on all counts. The records dispute was in connection to hush money from before the 2016 presidential election for a woman named Stormy Daniels, allegations that prosecutors upped to the felony level by also claiming the acts were undertaken to conceal other criminal activity. Now, Trump and allies of his are sticking to their rhetorical guns after the verdict, including with claims of campaign strength ahead of an expected rematch in the general election with incumbent President Joe Biden.
“I worked in five presidential races and helped elect Republican governors or Senators in over half the country,” Stevens wrote Saturday on social media. “I have never heard anything more transparently desperate than a party trying to spin that there is some non-MAGA pool of voters who can’t wait to vote for a convicted felon.”
An example of the kind of rhetoric that Stevens is referencing comes from Lindsey Graham, the South Carolina Republican Senator.
“I expect this case to be reversed on appeal and for Donald Trump to be elected president in November,” Graham wrote on X, formerly Twitter, also going after jurors who participated in Trump’s case. He bemoaned a “jury pool that comes from one of the most liberal areas of America,” referring to New York City. His comments came despite the precedent of concern about such individuals potentially facing threats or violence in connection to their service. There are real-world examples that might fuel such worries, like the apparently extensive threats faced by former Georgia election workers Ruby Freeman and Shaye Moss after they were named in false, election-related conspiracy theories.
