Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick was in New York on Tuesday, joining the list of Republican allies to show up outside Donald Trump's hush money trial where the former president is facing 34 counts of falsifying business records.
Trump’s defense rested Tuesday. Trump previously said he wanted to take the stand but ultimately opted not to testify. Closing arguments will begin next Tuesday, after which the jury will be handed the case and begin deliberations.
Patrick announced on X Tuesday he was in New York for the trial, parroting Trump in saying "there is no crime" and criticizing the prosecution's lead witness and the judge's daughter.
"It’s a trial you would expect to see in Russia, China, North Korea or in some tinpot dictatorship in a small country," Patrick tweeted. "The Biden Administration is trying to shut down President Trump because they know Biden can’t beat him in November. The entire country knows it."
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After the proceedings, Patrick joined other supporters outside and spoke to the media.
"We are here because we are friends of Donald Trump, the President of the United States, and when a friend is troubled, friends have his back," Patrick said.
During his time at the microphone, Patrick defended the former president saying he was being targeted because he said something the "ruling class" didn't like.
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“They want Donald Trump to disappear. They want to send him to jail. They want to take him off the main stage because they know he is their biggest danger to taking the ruling class out.”
A journalist followed up, posing the question of whether or not Trump, a self-proclaimed billionaire and former president, was himself a member of the ruling class.
"Donald Trump is not the ruling class. Donald Trump is for every New Yorker. He's for every Texan. Every state. Donald Trump has put his whole life on the line, his whole life on the line for the American people. When he came down that escalator he probably had no idea that he was going to be called to be the man in the gap to stand up for Americans. And he's standing up for you even if you don't know it."
Patrick is just the latest member of the Texas GOP to visit New York on Trump's behalf. Last month Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton flew to New York to attend the trial, calling it a "sham" and a "travesty of justice."
Trump's son, Donald Trump Jr., also spoke Tuesday, calling the trial politically motivated while attacking witnesses who testified for the prosecution.
"When our defense goes after arguably the least credible witnesses in the history of, I don't know, witnesses, you're not allowed to ask the damning questions of them," Trump Jr. said. "The star witness in this case is what, a nine-times convicted liar, and now, an admitted thief? That is who they are hanging the entire case on. The other one happens to be a porn star. Not exactly the ultimate form of jurisprudence here. But that's what you have."
The trial will resume with summations on Tuesday, May 28.
