7:48 pm ET, May 9, 2023
McCarthy would not say whether he would support Trump after the verdict. Here’s what other GOP lawmakers are saying
From CNN’s DJ Judd, Morgan Rimmer, Melanie Janona, Christine Wilson, Alaina Treen and Manu Raju
Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images
Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy e. She could not say Tuesday whether she would support former President Donald Trump after a New York jury found him liable for battery and defamation in a civil suit brought by Jean Carroll.
“You know what, I was in this meeting — finding out what happened,” McCarthy told reporters at the White House after leaving an Oval Office meeting with President Joe Biden on the debt ceiling.
In 2019, McCarthy told reporters He believed Trump’s account of Carroll’s denials.
“I’ve never met her — I understand what the president is [Trump] Although I don’t know anything more about the situation… I know the president it’s not true, I don’t know it’s true — I don’t know anything else about it,” he told reporters at the time, adding, “Yes, I believe it, president.”
Meanwhile, the Republican Party Sen. Kevin Cramer He described the verdict as a serious issue.
“I’d like to have a president who doesn’t have that history, but at the same time, at some point, there will be a binary choice, and then we’ll do that,” Cramer said.
The North Dakota senator said the ruling was “not even unworthy of the American people.”
“That and many other things make me question whether he would be the best candidate for the party. That’s why I’m not endorsing anyone yet. I’m keeping an open mind,” he said.
It’s late. Mitt Romney, A longtime critic of the former president said he hoped the ruling would lead people to conclude he was unfit for office.
“A jury of his peers found him guilty of sexual assault and awarded $5 million in damages. I believe a jury of the American people will reach the same conclusion about Donald Trump,” the Utah senator said.
Representative Dan Bacon, One moderate Republican, whose district represents President Joe Biden, said Trump “got what he deserved.”
“The jury has spoken, and I respect the jury,” he said. “I think he showed a lot of disrespect to the jury and the court … the way he treated them, he got what he deserved.”
Bacon has already said he won’t support Trump for president in 2024, saying he thinks the former president is “too divisive” and won’t win the White House.
A lawmaker who supported Trump for presidentRep. Matt GatesHe said he did not think the ruling would “make a huge difference” in the election.
“I certainly don’t believe that Donald Trump abused anybody,” the Florida lawmaker said.
“I don’t share that view,” Gates said when asked if some of his Republican colleagues found it hard to see how they could support a presidential candidate responsible for battery and defamation.
Senate Minority Whip John Thune Trump said he doesn’t think the ruling will affect the base, but could affect some swing voters.
However, Its. John Cornyn Assessing Trump’s political fallout is difficult because many voters have strongly defined positions about him.
“People who love him will still support him and people who don’t will. I think it’s too early to tell what the outcome will be, if any,” Cornyn said.
Many senators rejected the New York legal system and questioned the jury.
Sen. Lindsay Graham Simply told reporters, “I think the New York legal system is off the rails when it comes to Donald Trump.”
Former GOP presidential hopeful, Sen. Marco Rubio“That jury was a joke, the whole case was a joke.“
Ohio freshman Sen. JD VanceA strong supporter of the former president, he said he was skeptical of the jurors’ verdict in liberal New York City because it “seemed obsessed with going after Donald Trump,” he said.
CNN Nicky Robertson and Ted Barrett contributed to this post.
