Rishi Sunak dodges on Donald Trump’s conviction saying ‘not my focus’
Keir Starmer today insisted he ‘respects the court’s decision’ to convict Donald Trump – but stressed he would ‘work with whoever is elected president’.
On the election campaign trail in Scotland, the Labour leader suggested there had been due process despite the former president furiously claiming that the trial was ‘rigged’.
Rishi Sunak gave a blunter no comment response, saying Mr Trump’s travails in the US were ‘not my focus’.
A New York jury has found Mr Trump guilty of falsifying business records in a scheme to illegally influence the 2016 election through hush money payments to adult film actress Stormy Daniels, who said the two had sex.
But Mr Trump, the first ex-president to be convicted of felony crimes, insisted he was a ‘very innocent man’.
Keir Starmer today insisted he ‘respects the court’s decision’ to convict Donald Trump. Rishi Sunak dodged questions insisting the former president is ‘not my focus’
A New York jury has found Mr Trump (pictured) guilty of falsifying business records in a scheme to illegally influence the 2016 election through hush money payments to adult film actress Stormy Daniels , who said the two had sex
At a campaign event in Inverclyde, Sir Keir said: ‘First and foremost we respect the court’s decision in relation to the decision in the Trump case.’
He added: ‘We will work with whoever is elected president … that’s what you’d expect.
‘We have a special relationship with the US that transcends whoever the president is, but it is an unprecedented situation, there is no doubt about that.
‘And there’s a long way yet to go I think in relation to what happens next.’
Challenged on whether he was willing to work with a convicted felon in the White House if he wins July’s election, Mr Sunak said: ‘You wouldn’t expect me to comment on another country’s domestic politics or judicial processes.
‘I’m focused squarely on the election here at home, talking to people across the country about the choice at our election.
‘That’s my focus.’
Nigel Farage, a close ally of Mr Trump, said the former president was being made into a ‘modern day martyr’.
‘It’s enormous but when you look at the fact that the jury was chosen from a district that only had 10 per cent Republican support, you begin to understand the sheer politicisation of the American judicial system,’ he told GB News.
‘Any fair American can see that this whole case was concocted from day one. They knew exactly what they were doing. They got this judgement and I have to say, that I now think, I really do genuinely think that Trump is now going to win the presidency by a very big margin because people realise things are rotten in America.’
Work and Pensions Secretary Mel Stride, a close ally of Mr Sunak, described Mr Trump’s conviction as ‘extraordinary’.
Mr Stride told Times Radio he would not comment on the judicial process in the US.
But he added: ‘What I’m absolutely sure of is that whatever the outcome of the election – and I very much hope that Rishi is back in Number 10 for all sorts of reasons that we may come on to – that we will have a good and enduring continuingly positive relationship with the United States, whoever is going to be president in November.
‘That’s a relationship which, as you know, goes back many decades, so it’s always been solid and has always been to our advantage, and to the advantage of America in her leadership of the West.’
Shadow science secretary Peter Kyle said his party would focus on preserving the relationship between the UK and US.
He told Times Radio: ‘It’s a special relationship and we need to focus on preserving that for future generations. So there are things that transcend the governments of any day.
‘Britain and America work incredibly closely on defence, security, intelligence, and of course the economic ties are numerous and incredibly important to both countries.’
