Rep. Maria Elvira Salazar, who will be in the Manhattan courtroom Tuesday in support of former President Donald Trump, told Newsmax that she and other lawmakers have made the trip to New York City "because we need to denounce what's happening in the courthouse."
"I belong to a group of constituents that are terrified with what's happening," the Florida Republican told Newsmax's "Wake Up America." "I think we should point out that Donald Trump is not the only one on trial. He may be the one on the stand but we are all on trial. The whole country is being prosecuted, and the same forces that are now manipulating the court system against him will be coming against us tomorrow."
Former Trump attorney Michael Cohen was the last prosecution witness on Monday. It's not clear if the former president's lawyers will call witnesses or him to the stand.
The trial goes on break Wednesday and will not resume until next week, after the Memorial Day holiday this weekend. As soon as next week, the jury could start deliberating on the case which charges Trump with 34 felony counts of falsifying business records in connection with hush money payments made before the 2016 election.
Salazar told Newsmax that "we have seen this movie before," and that the proceedings against Trump are a "political trial."
"Regardless of what you think of Donald Trump, what you feel about Donald Trump, whether you're going to vote for him or not, this is a political trial, and we have seen that movie before, and it does not end well," she said. "That's why I'm here, on my own volition. I pay for my own ticket. I'm not one of the favorites. No one called me. I came on my own dime because we know in my district what this looks like."
Salazar, a former newscaster, also slammed the mainstream media for its coverage of the trial.
"They should be ashamed of themselves," she said. "I was a newscaster for 35 years. I know exactly what they're doing and what their biased coverage will cost us for generations."
She added that she represents thousands of constituents who escaped such proceedings, "and now they are finding that they are witnessing the same type of political trial in the United States."
Meanwhile, Trump will be the nominee chosen by the Republican base, said Salazar, adding, "who are we to manipulate that? That's what happens in Cuba and Venezuela where my constituents come from."
Salazar further stated that people in Florida who did not vote for Trump in 2020 will this time around because of the economy, the energy sector, and foreign policy.
"We're still the leaders of the free world, whether we like it or not, and unfortunately, the president has shown great weakness," she said. "We have got to let the people speak and the Republicans to come out in masses and vote."
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Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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