House Speaker Kevin McCarthy is urging people not to protest if former President Donald Trump is indicted.
Trump has called for demonstrations if he is arrested, posting to Truth Social that we need to “protest! Take our nation back!”
Speaking at a press conference at a Republican retreat in Florida Sunday, McCarthy disagreed.
“I don’t think people should protest this, no,” McCarthy said. “And I think President Trump, if you talk to him, he doesn’t believe that, either.”
McCarthy said yesterday that no one should protest if Trump is indicted this week over the Stormy Daniels hush money case.
“We want calmness out there.”https://t.co/VodUFxN77U pic.twitter.com/2yVqLo5Byo
— POLITICO (@politico) March 20, 2023
“Nobody should harm one another,” McCarthy added. “We want calmness out there.”
In a post to Truth Social over the weekend, Trump wrote:
Page 2: 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, & BASED ON AN OLD & FULLY DEBUNKED (BY NUMEROUS OTHER PROSECUTORS!) FAIRYTALE, THE FAR & AWAY LEADING REPUBLICAN CANDIDATE & FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, WILL BE ARRESTED ON TUESDAY OF NEXT WEEK. PROTEST, TAKE OUR NATION BACK!
In a subsequent post, Trump added, “THEY’RE KILLING OUR NATION AS WE SIT BACK & WATCH. WE MUST SAVE AMERICA!PROTEST, PROTEST, PROTEST!!!.”
Trump’s possible indictment stems from an alleged $130,000 hush money payment made to porn star Stormy Daniels in 2016 over an alleged sexual encounter that the two had in 2006. His former attorney, Michael Cohen, pleaded guilty to charges over the payment in 2018 and was sentenced to three years in prison.
McCarthy said that the case against Trump is weak.
“Lawyer after lawyer will tell you this is the weakest case out there, trying to make a misdemeanor a felony,” he said.
If Trump is charged, he will be the first former president in US history to ever be arrested after leaving office. He is also the current leading contender for the Republican presidential nomination in 2024.