Louisiana Attorney General Jeff Landry has been touting his endorsement from Donald Trump in the governor’s race for weeks, but Landry refused Wednesday night to say whether he thought the former president tried to cast aside results of the 2020 election.
When a journalist asked Landry about Trump’s criminal charges, the attorney general did not answer the question. Instead, Landry chastised members of the media for not writing enough about Landry’s lawsuit against Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg over funding Zuckerberg’s nonprofit provided to help with COVID-19 protocols during the 2020 election.
James Finn, Advocate reporter: Do you think former President Trump is guilty of the crimes he’s been accused of in these latest indictments?
Landry: I think I gave you a great – look – here’s what’s amazing. I was the only attorney general in the country to sue Mark Zuckerberg over basically trying to wed the Democratic Party to the election system in this country, and there’s a whole documentary on it and none of you all did anything on it.
So y’all go watch the “Rigged” documentary, and then y’all call me.
Finn: OK. I’ll go watch it. Thanks.
Landry is the presumed frontrunner in the Republican governor’s race. He spoke to reporters Wednesday evening ahead of an enormous rally and country music concert for his gubernatorial campaign at the Texas Club in Baton Rouge. The attorney general ended the informal meeting with journalists after Finn’s question.
There is no evidence that Zuckerberg tried to swing the election in favor of the Democrats with his nonprofit, and national columnists have described “Rigged” as a collection of right-wing conspiracy theories that have no basis in reality.
Trump faces three indictments and is the first person who has served as president to ever be charged with a felony. He remains the Republican frontrunner in the race for president in 2024.
Earlier this year, a New York grand jury indicted Trump for allegedly falsifying business records in order to cover up hush payments to adult video star and Baton Rouge native Stormy Daniels. A federal grand jury in Florida has also charged Trump with mishandling classified documents.
But the most significant accusations come from the indictment handed down earlier this month in Washington D.C. that focuses on Trump’s efforts to subvert the 2020 election won by President Joe Biden. It accuses Trump of acting illegally between the 2020 presidential election and the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol to hold onto power.
In spite of his legal troubles, Trump remains extremely popular in Louisiana. Biden may have won the 2020 presidential race nationally, but Trump carried Louisiana by 18 points in that election.
Landry consistently has flaunted his relationship with Trump, presumably seeing it as an advantage over the six other major candidates in the governor’s race.
His campaign spent $22,000 at Mar-A-Lago, the Florida resort where Trump lives, this year. The attorney general was also the only gubernatorial candidate to attend a Trump campaign fundraiser featuring the ex-president at a Metairie mansion earlier this summer.
In addition to Landry, four other major Republican candidates are running for governor: state Sen. Sharon Hewitt, state Rep. Richard Nelson, state Treasurer John Schroder and business lobbyist Stephen Waguespack.
Democrat Shawn Wilson, the state’s former transportation chief, and political independent Hunter Lundy, a trial attorney, are also in the race.
This story was published earlier by the Louisiana Illuminator, an affiliate of the nonprofit States Newsroom network, which includes the Florida Phoenix.
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