Gov. Kristi Noem (R-SD) mocked the criminal trial against Donald Trump, suggesting that United States’s voters aren’t paying it much attention.
Noem appeared on State of the Union with Dana Bash on Sunday after a weeklong jury selection process for Trump’s trial in New York. Trump is facing 34 felony counts of allegedly falsifying business records in order to pay hush money to multiple women. According to the Republican governor, these allegations, along with the 54 other felony charges against the former president, aren’t garnering that much attention from the general public.
“That’s what is so shocking to me, I guess Dana, is that when I’m walking around this state and talking to people, talking to people across the country, they don’t even know which trial this is. They’re like, ‘I don’t remember which one this is about,’” Noem said. “What they really care about is that they’re trying to figure out how to pay their gas bill.”
“They’re trying to figure out how to pay their electricity and put food on the table for their kids,” she added. “They want a president back in the White House that puts America first, that decides that Americans should be a priority, and not let an invasion like we have happening at the southern border continue to happen, that they really care about the citizens that are here in the United States.”
Noem went on to issue additional criticism of the trial’s timing, as Trump is in the middle of his campaign against President Joe Biden. She said, “It’s a little ridiculous that they’ve waited years to bring these types of charges” when the alleged crime happened years ago.
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The expected witnesses against Trump include his former attorney Michael Cohen, who has pleaded guilty to lying to Congress before, and porn star Stormy Daniels, who previously signed a non-disclosure agreement on the matter. Noem called into question both of their trustworthiness.
This is the only criminal trial that has the potential to issue a verdict before the 2024 elections. Trump has pleaded not guilty to all charges. Within the first three days of the trial’s jury selection, some $3 million in political donations came pouring in for the former president.
