Governor, congressional delegates and attorney general condemn verdict while ignoring ex-president’s immorality
By Dana Hess, South Dakota Searchlight
June 6, 2024
There used to be a time when you could count on how Republicans would react to the news of the day. They stood for the rule of law and high moral standards. Through the Trump years, we have seen those standards erode and vanish in other states. Recently the Trumpian infection was on full display among South Dakota’s top elected officials.
When the former president was convicted on 34 felony counts in New York, South Dakota’s top Republicans all had something disparaging to say about the outcome. To varying degrees, Gov. Kristi Noem, U.S. Sens. John Thune and Mike Rounds, U.S. Rep. Dusty Johnson and state Attorney General Marty Jackley all added their voices to the chorus of GOP naysayers claiming that Trump got a raw deal.
This criticism of the verdict is to be expected from Noem. She has spent so much time trying to mold herself into the former president’s perfect vice presidential candidate that she not only drinks the Trump Kool-Aid, she bathes in it. It was disconcerting, however, to see the state’s other top elected officials take such big gulps.
Thune’s criticism centered on the “politically motivated” nature of the trial. His scorn, like his endorsement of Trump’s candidacy for president, may be fueled by pragmatism. As a candidate for the top Republican job in the Senate, he would be called on to work closely with Trump if he is elected. Consequently, it may be best for Thune’s chances if he toes the company line on Trump’s conviction.
Rounds, who has not endorsed Trump, said the verdict would cause people to question the judicial system. He seemed more upset, however, by the notion that Trump would be able to use the verdict to raise funds for his campaign.
Johnson, who also has not endorsed Trump, confessed his own long-standing concerns about the trial, citing unnamed “legal experts from across the political spectrum” who predict that the convictions will be overturned on appeal.
Perhaps the most disconcerting voice in this South Dakota chorus belonged to state Attorney General Marty Jackley. The AG said he had deep concerns about New York’s prosecution of Trump after the U.S. attorney and Federal Election Commission chose not to prosecute. While it was a state court that convicted Trump, Jackley managed to chalk it all up to a “failure of leadership by the Biden administration.”
It’s most disheartening to hear a man who has spent his life in the judicial system trashing the process. Would Trump and his minions have noticed if Jackley stayed silent? Maybe criticizing the verdict is the price elected Republicans have to pay if they want to stay out of Trump’s crosshairs.
A lesson in how far Republicans have strayed from embracing the concept of law and order can be seen in the example of former Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan. After the trial, Hogan, who is a candidate for the U.S. Senate, said there must be respect for the verdict. A Trump advisor immediately posted on X that Hogan’s campaign was over.
Just as they once embraced the rule of law, Republicans could also be counted on to stake out the high moral ground on any issue. Yet few, if any, Republican officeholders — and certainly none from the South Dakota contingent — criticized the lack of morality that led Trump to his New York hush money trial.
It’s a certainty that if Trump were a Democrat, Republicans would be quick to point out his shattered marriage vows, his dalliance with a porn star and the likelihood that a man who would cheat on his wife would think nothing of cheating on his business records to cover it up.
This has happened across the country as Republicans who were initially critical of Trump’s role in the Jan. 6 insurrection later came to his defense. Election denialism seems to be the new gold standard for Republicans who hope to be Trump’s vice presidential nominee.
It’s disappointing to see Trump’s brand of rule by complaint take such a firm grip on all of South Dakota’s top elected officials. Time will tell what other Trump sins and crimes they’ll have to excuse in the future to curry the man’s favor or avoid the man’s wrath.
Dana Hess spent more than 25 years in South Dakota journalism, editing newspapers in Redfield, Milbank and Pierre. He’s retired and lives in Brookings, working occasionally as a freelance writer.
South Dakota Searchlight is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. South Dakota Searchlight maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Seth Tupper for questions: info@southdakotasearchlight.com. Follow South Dakota Searchlight on Facebook and Twitter.
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