Cruz: Juan Merchan 'Has Diminished the Credibility of Every Judge in America'

Thursday, immediately following the Trump guilty verdict, Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) appeared on Newsmax TV to criticize the court for its handling of the case.

He called it a “grotesque abuse” of the justice system and warned that New York Judge Juan Merchan “diminished the credibility of every judge in the country.

“Well, Greta, I have two similar sentiments,” he said during Thursday's broadcast of “On the Record.” “Number one, I'm angry, I'm furious, and number two, I'm heartbroken. I'm angry because we're seeing a grotesque abuse of the justice system. It is a travesty of justice that has unfolded in New York. And I'm heartbroken because the rule of law matters in America. You and I both have spent our adult lives fighting to defend the rule of law, and we have a justice system that is supposed to ensure equal justice under law for everyone. Today, the New York justice system made itself a global laughingstock. This was a political decision that every banana republic in the world recognizes. And they know exactly what this was. This was partisan Democrats lashing out at their political opponent. And I got to say, Greta, I held out hope that a 12-person jury, there would be one, one who would hold out and say, 'I will not participate in this fraud. I will not participate in this political attack.' And sadly, there was not even one.”

Host Greta van Susteren asked if cameras would have been appropriate in Merchan's courtroom.

“I think there really should have been cameras in this courtroom, in particular, to see the absolute abuse of power by this trial judge,” Cruz replied. “This trial judge, I think, has diminished the credibility of every judge in America. Because, look, when you go into a courtroom, and God forbid you go into a courtroom as a criminal defendant, or you go go into the courtroom as a as a civil litigant, you expect the judge to be fair. You expect the judge to be impartial. You expect the judge to follow the law. This judge was a partisan. He should have worn a Biden campaign hat while he sat at the bench. His rulings were absurd. I got to say, those jury instructions — it was obvious he had one objective, and it was to get Donald Trump. Now, that's not a judge's job. It does ensure for reversible error. And I believe this decision will be reversed on appeal. I think it is a certainty that it will be reversed on appeal.”

“But I think on all likelihood that will happen after the election and the entire purpose of this sham prosecution was the two words you read right before you had me on you read Joe Biden's campaign statement, and in with words that surprise nobody on planet Earth, they refer to Donald Trump as a, quote, 'convicted felon,'” he added. “You and I are going to hear those words repeated by Democrats and the corporate media about 1 billion times between now and Election Day. That was the whole point is to scream felon, felon, felon, felon. This was politics and not law.”

Follow Jeff Poor on Twitter @jeff_poor

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