Former President Donald Trump’s Republican allies have appeared in growing numbers at his New York trial—a trend that “sheds more light on” the trial, according to Larry Snowden, leader of Club 47 USA, known as the largest group of Trump supporters in the United States.
Mr. Snowden, observing news reports from his home in Florida, told The Epoch Times that it’s important to add prominent voices to the former president’s criticisms of the records-falsification case. They denounce it as a political prosecution—an allegation that those involved strongly reject.
Their outcry supplements President Trump’s protestations while a gag order limits what he can say about the trial.
“The American people now see more and more what’s really going on,” Mr. Snowden said. “No one is being fooled by this. It’s very obvious to the majority of American people that all of this is a game to try and defeat President Trump by keeping him from being out and campaigning.”
New York District Attorney Alvin Bragg, who brought the 34 New York records-falsification charges against the Republican former president, denies political motivations, as do other Democrats. They have used phrases such as “no one is above the law” to justify the prosecutions of President Trump.
The former president has repeatedly denounced both Mr. Bragg and Judge Juan Merchan, who has fined President Trump $10,000 for gag-order violations and threatened jail time. Attempts to throw out the gag order, which allows President Trump to criticize the judge and prosecutor, are continuing.
Americans are losing faith in the justice system because “they see it being abused, as it is being done here in New York,” he said.
On that same date, Mr. Burgum said it seems nonsensical that “the world’s attention is on a paperwork trial,” given the concerns everyday Americans face. They worry about affording food, housing, and utilities, not to mention foreign relations with China, Russia, and Iran, and the wars in Ukraine and Israel.
Former GOP presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy said: “You know who ultimately casts the vote on this case? It’s not just the jurors in that jury box. It’s every one of you at home—every American who votes this November to say no to the weaponization of justice.”
Sen. J.D. Vance (R-Ohio) said that Republicans, Democrats, and the politically disinterested all have a stake in the outcome. “What’s going on in that courtroom is a threat to American democracy,” he said, invoking a phrase that Democrats have used to describe President Trump.
“We’re here in court with President Trump, standing with him, but we need you to stand with him too,” Mr. Donalds says in the video, urging people to give donations to support President Trump’s efforts to win the election.
Repeatedly, reporters have asked surrogates whether President Trump asked them to come to the trial or make specific statements. The gag order forbids him from commenting about witnesses or relatives of court personnel.
Jason Meister, a New York-based Trump adviser, said he believes reporters have a motive for those questions. They are “trying to concoct a narrative that Trump is violating the unconstitutional gag order by suggesting that surrogates are showing up at Trump’s request,” he told The Epoch Times.
“The reality is: Surrogates understand that our country is facing an existential threat, and they’re showing up for the love of their country,” Mr. Meister said. “The defense of Trump is now the defense of America. If Trump fails, so too does the Republic.”
Several of the surrogates, including Mr. Vance and Mr. Scott, said they went to the court to show solidarity with President Trump, whom they consider a friend.
