Former New York Rep. Zeldin says Trump conviction is election interference, will increase support

Former congressman Lee Zeldin, R-N.Y., called former President Donald Trump's conviction in the hush money trial "election interference," adding it will motivate people to support him.

"This is election interference," Zeldin said on the Thursday edition of the "Just the News, No Noise" TV show. "This is a weaponization of the criminal justice system, and the jury instructions were that final reminder."

New York Judge Juan Merchan told the jury in the trial that they do not need unanimity to convict the former president. This means some could agree on one crime and some another and he would treat it as a unanimous verdict. 

A New York jury found Trump guilty on all 34 counts of falsifying business records during his 2016 presidential bid to conceal a hush money payment to porn star Stormy Daniels to keep quiet an alleged sexual encounter with her.

Trump, who also is the 2024 presumptive GOP presidential nominee, now becomes the first U.S. president to be found guilty of felony crimes.

According to Zeldin, this conviction will intensify Trump supporters' passion to get him back into the White House. 

"I think on all fronts, people will be more motivated than ever," he said. "I think that there's going to be a new higher intensity. You think that President Trump had passionate supporters before? You haven't seen anything compared to the passion when they are waking up tomorrow morning asking, 'What else can I do to help make sure that President Trump is back in the White House?'"

"I think that there's gonna be a whole lot more support coming to President Trump for a very good reason," he later said.