‘Justice will prevail’: Mississippi leaders respond to Trump conviction

JACKSON, Miss. (WLBT) - Mississippi’s elected leaders have responded to the conviction of President Donald Trump.

On Thursday, a jury in New York returned a unanimous guilty verdict on 34 counts of falsifying business records to influence the 2016 presidential campaign.

The verdict prompted many of the state’s elected leaders to share statements on social media, with many Republicans coming to the defense of the former president and at least one Democrat saying justice was served.

Gov. Tate Reeves described the conviction as “lawless,” and that it “only reflects the desperation of President Biden and the corrupt methods he will use to steal this election.”

“I am confident justice will prevail, and the people of America will not reward the left-wing wannabe dictators abusing our justice system in November,” he wrote.

Rep. Bennie Thompson, however, said justice already had prevailed. “Donald Trump is now a convicted felon, found guilty on all 34 counts. If I hadn’t said it enough, no one is above the law, and today, the rule of law has prevailed.”

Thompson headed up the House’s January 6 Committee, which investigated the riots outside the U.S. Capitol in January 2021. In April, the ranking member on the House Committee on Homeland Security introduced legislation to block secret service protection for convicted felons sentenced to prison.

Mississippi’s other Congressional leaders also weighed in, with Rep. Michael Guest saying Trump was “convicted... on charges that were politically motivated, and the evidence presented against him did not arise to the level of reasonable doubt. All Americans are entitled to a fair trial brought by an impartial prosecutor. President Trump was not afforded these fundamental protections and his conviction should be overturned.”

Sen. Roger Wicker echoed Guest’s sentiments, saying, “This prosecution has been an outrageous perversion of our justice system” and that “unless reversed, it could set a disturbing precedent in which our courts are weaponized by one party against the other. Today is a dark day for the rule of law.”

Lt. Gov. Delbert Hosemann said, “The voters will make the final decision on our president, who will be Donald Trump,” while Auditor Shad White, meanwhile, called the verdict a “travesty.”

“Democrats love to talk about how important democracy is, but today, we saw a justice system weaponized to undermine democracy,” White wrote. “Make America Great Again.”

Not all Republicans sided with the former president. Sen. Brice Wiggins broke with the Republican Party, saying on X that the leadership of the Mississippi GOP “has a lot of soul searching to do.”

“All jurors deserve thanks and respect. They are the foundation of the best judicial system in the world.”

Trump is slated to be sentenced on July 11, days before the Republican National Convention.

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