Alaska Republicans back Trump after historic conviction in hush money case

Alaska Republicans are calling the conviction of former President Donald Trump a “travesty” after he was found guilty Thursday of falsifying business records in a scheme to influence the 2016 election with hush money payments paid to a porn star who said the two had sex.

The Alaska Republican Party issued a statement on social media shortly after the historic verdict was read by a New York jury.

“No President in the history of our country has ever been persecuted like President Donald J. Trump,” the party said. “The weaponization of the justice system against President Trump, as evidenced in this travesty of a verdict, is an outrage and a disgrace to us all.”

The three highest-ranking Alaska GOP officials signed off on the statement: newly elected chair Carmela Warfield, former Lt. Gov. Craig Campbell, who is also a national committeeman, and national committeewoman Cynthia Henry.

The statement expressed confidence that Trump would be elected in November “to work on righting the wrongs the Biden Administration has wrought on our country and our great state.”

The executive director of the Alaska Democratic Party did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

President Joe Biden’s campaign said on social media that “in New York today, we saw that no one is above the law.” Trump himself called the verdict a “disgrace” after a “rigged trial.” Both campaigns used the verdict to drive supporters to donate.

Republican Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy, who endorsed Trump in September, said on social media he would “hope and pray” that Thursday’s verdict would be overturned on appeal.

“This is a terrible day for the United States of America. The majority of people following these cases believe they are politically motivated to harm President Trump’s chances at winning in November,” Dunleavy said.

Alaska’s senior U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski, a Republican and frequent Trump critic, was overseas on Thursday and unavailable for comment.

U.S. Rep. Mary Peltola, a Democrat first elected to represent Alaska in Congress in 2022, declined to comment.

Meanwhile, Republican U.S. Sen. Dan Sullivan, a Trump supporter, said on social media that “this is a very sad day for America and the rule of law.” He said the verdict “pushes our great nation even further into banana republic territory.”

“The 2024 presidential election should be decided at the ballot box, not by this unprecedented political prosecution,” he said.

Facing dozens of felony charges, Trump overwhelmingly won an Alaska Republican presidential preference poll in March with 88% of the vote. Former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley finished in second place with 12%.

According to a recent NPR poll, two-thirds of registered U.S. voters said a guilty verdict for Trump in the hush money case would have no effect on their November vote for president.

Alaskans will go to the polls on Nov. 5 to vote for the state’s sole seat in the U.S. House of Representatives.

The two leading Republican candidates for U.S. House were scathing of Trump’s conviction on 34 felony counts. Businessman Nicholas Begich III, who unsuccessfully ran for Alaska’s U.S. House seat in 2022, said on social media that “today’s verdict in New York is a travesty.”

“The American people see clearly that lawfare, venue shopping, and a biased judge have delivered a miscarriage of justice,” Begich said, predicting a Trump victory in November.

Lt. Gov. Nancy Dahlstrom, who has previously served in the Legislature and as head of the Alaska Department of Corrections, said that the verdict was “an embarrassment to our judicial system and will have ripples in our legal system for years to come.”

“Alaskans stand with you, President Trump!” she said.

Trump is set to be sentenced in the hush money case four days before the start of the Republican National Convention, where he is set to be officially nominated as the party’s candidate for president. He won Alaska’s three electoral college votes in 2020 with 53% of the vote, and in 2016 with 51%.