A Democratic congressman has publicly called on Gov. Hochul to pardon former President Donald Trump after he was found guilty this week of falsifying business records — for the sake of the nation.
Rep. Dean Phillips (D-Minn.) said a Trump conviction only helps his campaign.
“Donald Trump is a serial liar, cheater, and philanderer, a six-time declarer of corporate bankruptcy, an instigator of insurrection, and a convicted felon who thrives on portraying himself as a victim. @GovKathyHochul should pardon him for the good of the country,” Phillips declared in a X post Friday.
“You think pardoning is stupid? Making him a martyr over a payment to a porn star is stupid. (Election charges are entirely different.) It’s energizing his base, generating record sums of campaign cash, and will likely result in an electoral boost,” Phillips warned.
Phillips, a three term gadfly, earned national attention this year after launching a primary challenge against President Biden for the 2024 Democratic presidential nomination.
A businessman before entering government, Phillips dropped at least $5 million of his own cash on the long-shot effort, which he abandoned in March.
He endorsed Biden after garnering no meaningful support in the primaries.
A person close to Hochul said a pardon was “unlikely.”
“I cannot image a world where she would consider doing this, this makes no sense,” said the insider.
