Rep. Dean Phillips of Minnesota, a former Democratic presidential candidate, went on a cryptic X-ray rant Saturday, calling on New York Gov. Kathy Hockle to pardon former President Donald Trump “for the good of the country,” just two days after he was convicted of falsifying 34 business records.
In a bizarre first post, the Minnesota senator listed Trump's crimes and then quickly asked the New York governor for clemency.
“Donald Trump is a habitual liar, cheater, cheater, six-time corporate bankruptcy declarer, instigator of insurrection, and convicted criminal who thrives on portraying himself as the victim,” Phillips wrote scathingly.
“@GovKathyHochul should pardon him for the good of the country.”
The congressman, who dropped out of the Democratic primary in March, dispelled any hopes of cynicism in a follow-up post minutes later, explicitly firing back at his opponents.
“Do you think the pardon is stupid?” Phillips wrote. “Making him a martyr for paying a porn star is stupid (the election charges are a whole different ballot measure).”
In the hush-money case, prosecutors argued that Trump's efforts to cover up his affair with Stormy Daniels may have influenced the outcome of the 2016 election. But Trump's three other criminal cases — two for plotting to overturn the 2020 election and one for handling classified documents — are considered much more serious crimes. None of those other cases have trial dates set, and it's highly unlikely they'll be decided before the November election.
In his X rant, Phillips argued that convicting Trump would only add fuel to the MAGA fire and could have dire consequences for the election.
“It will energize his base, generate record amounts of campaign cash and likely lead to an election victory,” he wrote.
The Trump campaign announced Friday that it had raised about $53 million within hours of the verdict and slammed the trial as “rigged,” a false claim that Trump repeated at a press conference on Friday.
Phillips has kept a low profile since dropping out of the presidential race in March, so it's unclear why he decided now was the right time to re-enter the political fray, and Hochul is unlikely to follow Phillips' advice anyway.
“It's inconceivable that she would do something like this,” said a person close to the governor. New York Post.
“This doesn't make sense.”
