Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy said Sunday that Americans should not protest if former President Donald Trump is indicted.
Trump announced Saturday on Truth Social he expects to be arrested Tuesday by the Manhattan District Attorney’s office, led by Alvin Bragg.
“Now illegal leaks from a corrupt & highly political Manhattan District Attorneys office, which has allowed new records to be set in violent crime & whose leader is funded by George Soros, indicate that, with no crime being able to be proven, and based on an old and fully debunked (by numerous other prosecutors!) fairytale, the far & away leading Republican candidate and former president of the United States of America, will be arrested on Tuesday of next week.”
DAVENPORT, IOWA – MARCH 13: Former President Donald Trump speaks at the Adler Theatre on March 13, 2023 in Davenport, Iowa.(Scott Olson/Getty Images)
Trump then urged supporters to “protest” if the arrest occurs.
McCarthy spoke out about his comments Sunday. (RELATED: Manhattan District Attorney’s Office Braces For Potential Trump Indictment)
“I don’t think people should protest this, no,” McCarthy said, according to NBC News. “And I think President Trump, if you talk to him, he doesn’t believe that, either.”
“Nobody should harm one another,” he reportedly continued. “We want calmness out there.”
McCarthy, however, also defended Trump and ripped Bragg’s investigation as politically motivated.
“Lawyer after lawyer will tell you this is the weakest case out there, trying to make a misdemeanor a felony,” McCarthy said, according to NBC News. “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.”
“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.”
The potential indictment relates to a years long investigation into whether Trump paid hush money to former porn star Stormy Daniels. Trump’s former lawyer Michael Cohen sent $130,000 to Daniels so that she would not disclose an alleged earlier affair. Cohen claims Trump reimbursed him for the payments. Authorities are investigating whether Trump forged business records to hide the alleged payout.