OPINION: This article may contain commentary which reflects the author's opinion.
Fox News host Jesse Watters is calling on Republican lawmakers and Americans to “wake up” after former President Donald Trump was indicted by a New York grand jury on Thursday. The case involves Trump’s alleged role in hush money payments to adult film star Stormy Daniels ahead of the 2016 election, allegedly to keep Daniels quiet about an affair the two of them had in 2006.
“I’m starting to feel it right now. I’m mad about it, I don’t like it. The country’s not going to stand for it. And people better be careful and that’s all I’ll say about that,” Watters declared.
“I don’t think the left understands what they’re getting themselves into,” Watters said. “This country is already teetering. You have people who feel rightfully persecuted just for being conservatives … this was a very controversial election this was a very controversial president, there have been a lot of bogus charges that have been flying around recently.”
WATCH:
Jesse Watters tells Republicans to WAKE UP after Trump indicted by Soros-backed DA:
"The only way you get free Trump is by re-electing free Trump at this point. This is lawfare and Republicans have to wake up and fight fire with fire."🔥 pic.twitter.com/4V0mH51VqZ
— Benny Johnson (@bennyjohnson) March 31, 2023
Florida Republican Rep. Matt Gaetz delivered a big update late on Thursday night after he had a phone call with Trump.
“Remember Soros gave Alvin Bragg a million dollars. We’re used to seeing these things. Government printing money till it goes out of style in third world countries and that’s being visited in the United States of America. I spoke with President Trump moments ago and he’s resolute and concerned about what this does to America’s brand around the world,” Gaetz said.
“We don’t want to resolve differences through violence but the Chinese communist party can pay every grifter but Donald Trump can’t pay Stormy Daniels without a legal dispute. There’s a legal element that’s not met by any evidence. They would have to prove that Donald Trump would have no reason other than the election to try to resolve this issue with Stormy Daniels privately and outside of the public sphere. I think a motion to dismiss will happen next. If this were ever to be tried, you could not do it in Manhattan. You would see a change of venue in upstate New York. Maybe it’s the only place Donald Trump could get a fair trial. I expect this will be resolved well before that by any court that looks at the way that the law is being tortured in the absence of any charge that would be maintainable against any human being on the Planet Earth other than Donald Trump and against Trump it’s clearly political,” he concluded.
WATCH:
I spoke with President Donald Trump moments ago. He is resolute and focused.
He is also concerned about what this politically-motivated indictment will do to America's brand around the world.
We will wake up in a very different America tomorrow because we can no longer have… pic.twitter.com/XBXTNpW3TE
— Rep. Matt Gaetz (@RepMattGaetz) March 31, 2023
Many other Republicans issued strong statements in support of Trump.
Florida Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis announced on Thursday night that the state will not cooperate with any request to extradite Trump.
Extradition would only be required if Trump refused to leave his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida to attend an arraignment hearing in New York.
Texas Republican Sen. Ted Cruz responded: “The Democrat Party’s hatred for Donald Trump knows no bounds. The ‘substance’ of this political persecution is utter garbage. This is completely unprecedented and is a catastrophic escalation in the weaponization of the justice system.”
Missouri GOP Sen. Josh Hawley said: “Tonight’s indictment of Donald Trump isn’t about the law. It’s about power. Raw power. It’s the Democrat Party telling the nation they will stop at nothing to control the outcome of the next presidential election. It is an assault on our democracy, pure and simple.”
Nikki Haley, the former South Carolina governor and 2024 GOP presidential candidate, tweeted: “From everything I have seen from this New York district attorney is that this would be something he’d be doing for political points. I think what we know is, when you get into political prosecutions like this, it’s more about revenge than it is about justice.”
House Majority Leader Steve Scalise tweeted: “The sham New York indictment of President Donald Trump is one of the clearest examples of extremist Democrats weaponizing government to attack their political opponents. Outrageous.”
