Former President Donald Trump was "somber" after hearing the guilty verdict in his New York criminal trial that could result in jail time but remains "focused on winning" the White House in November, Donald Trump Jr. told Newsmax on Friday.
Don Jr. appeared "Wake Up America" the morning after his father became the first former president to be convicted of felony crimes as a jury found him guilty of falsifying business records in a scheme to illegally influence the 2016 election through payments made to silence a porn actor who said the two had sex.
Don Jr. made the remarks when co-host Sharla McBride asked how the former president was doing following the verdict.
"Obviously, it's a somber time for him, for our family, and frankly, for our country based on all of the nonsense that we saw," Don Jr. said. "I spoke with him last night, obviously right after the verdict, you know, somber, but his resolve is so strong to keep fighting to prevent these kind of political persecutions from happening in our country that he's just going to keep going.
"He's really, truly one of the toughest people I've ever seen. He understood when he got into this back in 2015 what this was going to be all about. That was when he looked me in the eyes, going down the elevator before sort of the, let's call it the infamous escalator ride, and he said, 'now we find out who our real friends are,' because he understood what would happen.
"His resolve is only increasing, which is amazing to see. And, you know, I don't think there's many people that could handle the kind of pressure that he's going through right now. And he's doing it great."
In the interview, Don Jr. admitted he was concerned that Judge Juan Merchan could sentence Trump to jail time.
"If anyone thinks for one second that this biased Democrat operative judge wouldn't be willing to break further norms and rules to throw my father in jail, you don't think it's a coincidence that the sentencing hearing is four days before the Republican National Convention?"
Asked whether Trump is concerned about going to prison, Don Jr. said his father is "just going to keep fighting."
"Obviously, I imagine it's something in the back of his mind, but he's so focused on winning. He's so focused on fixing our very broken system. And honestly, he's the only guy with the guts, with the resolve to do that."
Don Jr. also talked about the trial.
"The Democrats have been playing this game like this for decades, right? They're playing fast pitch hardball. We've been playing T-ball on the conservative side," he said. "So, until we start playing the same game, until we start going after them the way they go after us, it's not going to work.
"If this is allowed to happen in America in 2024, we have some pretty big problems. This is America. This is not Zimbabwe, and that's the way we look right now, not only to ourselves, but to the rest of the world."
He also spoke about the need for fighters in the Republican Party as opposed to "conservative-lite" politicians.
"It shows that we need fewer establishment Republicans. Frankly, we need no establishment Republicans," Don Jr. said. "And we need all true America-first candidates, people who are actually willing to fight like my father is willing to fight for the things that this country stands for, for our freedoms, for our Constitution, for our future."
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Charlie McCarthy ✉
Charlie McCarthy, a writer/editor at Newsmax, has nearly 40 years of experience covering news, sports, and politics.
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