McCarthy says Americans should not protest if Trump is indicted

ORLANDO, Florida — House Speaker Kevin McCarthy instructed calm Sunday and stated Americans should not protest if former President Donald Trump is indicted and arrested in a hush-money investigation in New York, contradicting Trump, who referred to as on his supporters Saturday to “Protest, take our nation back!” 

“I don’t think people should protest this, no. And I think President Trump, if you talk to him, he doesn’t believe that, either,” McCarthy, R-Calif., stated in accordance with a query from NBC News all the way through House Republicans’ retreat in Orlando.

He stated later: “Nobody should harm one another … We want calmness out there.”

But during the same news conference, McCarthy gave a full-throated defense of Trump, dismissing New York County District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s investigation as politically motivated and saying he’s uninterested in cracking down on rising crime in New York City.

“Lawyer after lawyer will tell you this is the weakest case out there, trying to make a misdemeanor a felony,” stated McCarthy, flanked by means of participants of his management group in an outside courtyard on the JW Marriott Orlando, Grande Lakes.

“The last thing we want … is somebody putting their thumb on the scale [of justice] simply because they don’t agree with somebody else’s political view,” McCarthy added. “That is what’s wrong, and that’s what infuriates people. And this will not hold up in court if this is what he wants to do.”

Trump said Saturday on his social media platform Truth Social, that “illegal leaks” from Bragg to the media suggest that he, “the far & away leading candidate” for president, will be arrested Tuesday, and he called for his supporters to protest.

Bragg has been investigating allegations that Trump made a hush-money payment to the adult film star Stormy Daniels during his victorious 2016 presidential campaign. Multiple sources said last week that law enforcement agencies in New York were preparing for a possible Trump indictment as soon as this week.

On Saturday, McCarthy took to Twitter to announce he was directing GOP-led House committees to launch investigations into whether any federal funding was being used to support Bragg’s probe and “subvert our democracy by means of interfering in elections with politically motivated prosecutions.”

A day later in Orlando, McCarthy reiterated his pledge to investigate, saying he had already spoken to Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, who also leads the select subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government.

“This applies immediately to that,” McCarthy told reporters. “I believe you’ll be able to see movements from him.”

Asked if Trump should still run for president even if he’s ultimately convicted, McCarthy punted to the nation’s founders.

“The Constitution permits him to,” he said. “He has a constitutional proper to run.”

After McCarthy’s news conference, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., a top Trump ally, said people have the constitutional right to peacefully protest. But she joined McCarthy in urging Trump supporters not to protest an indictment, saying they should instead join Trump at a March 25 rally in Waco, Texas.

“I’m making plans to head; I will be able to’t wait to head down there. I’m not going to New York. I’m going to visit Waco, Texas, and I’m going to sign up for up with a number of people who give a boost to President Trump,” Greene told reporters.

“Because Save America rallies are like an ideal, giant love fest. We’re all simply announcing how a lot we like America and President Trump. I do not want to protest.”