'Big mistake': Republicans urge party members to keep quiet about Trump conviction
Republicans ringing alarm bells over former President Donald Trump's criminal conviction are making a "big mistake" that could lose him the White House in 2024, their fellow party members say.
Trump's conviction on 34 counts of falsifying business records has fellow Republicans decrying a rigged political system in support for the 77-year-old and his MAGA movement, but one lawmaker wishes they would cry a little less loudly.
“The big mistake that we make is to shift our attention away from a failing economy,” Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC) told Politico. “Trump wins if we focus on those issues.”
Sen. Jerry Moran’s (R-KS) also said that it's time to ditch theTrump trial talking points and push forward on the bread-and-butter American issues.
"The best campaign in 2024 is to point out the economic circumstances that we’re in," he told the outlet. "And the policies of the Biden administration.”
Meanwhile, Americans are speaking with their pocketbooks.
Trump and the RNC boasted $300 million in a fundraising bumps as a response to the justice system's perceived unjust verdict.
After returning to the stump, Trump himself claimed on Truth Social that the donations are coming "in response of support for President Trump while facing the sham Biden trial and verdict that outraged and motivated Americans from every walk of life."
The mantra with the GOP post-guilty verdict is make lemonade out of the legal system lemons.
"If anything, it’s going to have a positive impact,” Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI) told Politico. “You don’t have to look further than the fundraising. Set that aside: This is firing people up.”
Sen. Roger Marshall (R-KS) also believes there is going to be a boost for MAGA come November; and that's more than enough time to pick off former Trump nominee contender Nikki Haley.
“That’s a bigger deal than at this point than what this verdict is," he told the outlet. "There’s this 15 to 20% of people in primaries who are still voting for Nikki Haley. How do we reach out to that group?
“That’s a bigger issue than this verdict.”