'Another anaphylactic response': GOP presidential candidates unfazed by Trump sexual assault verdict

'Another anaphylactic response': GOP presidential candidates unfazed by Trump sexual assault verdict
Vivek Ramaswamy, Image via Twitter/Screengrab.
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Several 2024 Republican candidates are defending their competition, former President Donald Trump after a New York jury found him liable for sexual assault in the rape defamation case brought against him by journalist E. Jean Carroll.

On Wednesday, The Recount shared a video of Nikki Haley sharing her thoughts on the verdict with GOP host Hugh Hewitt, writing, "2024 Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley, when asked about Donald Trump being found liable for sexual abuse: 'I'm not gonna get into that … We've gotta leave the baggage and the negativity behind … It's not my case, it's his case.'"

The former South Carolina Governor added, "The focus has to be, not to be distracted. That's why we've got to leave the baggage and the negativity behind."

READ MORE: GOP leaders’ pandering to extremists has left the party in crisis: analysis

Additionally, NBC reporter Allen Smith tweeted Wednesday, "GOP presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy comes to Trump's defense following the E. Jean Carroll verdict: '...this seems like just another part of the establishment's anaphylactic response against its chief political allergen: Donald Trump.'"

The candidate's full statement says, "I wasn't one of the jurors and I'm not privy to all of the facts that they have, but I'll say what everyone else is privately thinking: if the defendant weren't named Donald Trump, would there even be a lawsuit? Based on the sheer timing of the alleqations - that the alleged offense occurred in the mid-1990s and Ms. Carroll did not sue until 2019-2022, far beyond the normal statute of limitations for theunderlying offense, and in the middle of a spate of other legal charges against Trump for otherancient allegations - this seems like just another part of the establishment's anaphylactic response against its chief political allergen: Donald Trump."

Ramaswamy continued, "Believe me, it would be a lot easier for me if Trump weren't in this race. But in America we don't weaponize the law with decades-old allegations to undercut our political opponents. I want to winthis race by showing voters how I will take the America First movement beyond Trump, and I lookforward to facing him on the debate stage."

On the other hand, other GOP leaders insist the former president in "unfit" to serve another term.

READ MORE: 'We like to be courted': Iowa GOP 'pretty open' to 2024 candidates besides Trump and DeSantis

Recently, Trump's ex-United States Attorney General Bill Barr insisted another four years of the 2024 hopeful in office would be a "horror show."

Former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie during a Wednesday Fox News podcast interview asked host Brian Kilmeade, "How many coincidences are we going to have here with Donald Trump, Brian?"

Likewise, U.S. Senator Mitt Romney (R-Utah) said during a CNN interview he hopes "the jury of the American people reach the same conclusion about Donald Trump," adding the 2024 hopeful is "unfit to be the leader of the free world."

Watch the video below or at this link.

READ MORE: 2024 GOP candidates appear to back Trump’s proposal to purge federal workers

Rolling Stone's full report is available at this link (subscription required).

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