Rep. Dean Phillips, D-Minn., said in a new interview that the New York case against Donald Trump has backfired on those in his party hoping they would be their "salvation."
"I think the New York cases, if anything, may have backfired against those who thought that it would be the salvation. But I don't think the New York cases are exactly what Democrats were hoping they would be," Phillips told CNN's Manu Raju.
Closing arguments are expected in Trump's New York criminal case this week. He faces 34 counts of falsifying business records related to hush money payments made to adult film star Stormy Daniels prior to the 2016 election.
Phillips launched an unsuccessful primary challenge against President Biden late last year, dropping out after a series of dismal finishes.
'IT'S A DISGRACE': AMERICANS DELIVER BLUNT ASSESSMENT OF TRUMP TRIAL
Raju spoke to lawmakers about whether a Trump acquittal in the New York trial might give him a political boost. Legal commentators have said a conviction is likely but no certainty in the landmark case.
"I don't really think so. I think, you know, Donald Trump's character is clear to the world," Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., told the CNN reporter.
The former president was also found to have committed fraud in New York while building a real estate empire by deceiving banks, insurers and others by overvaluing his assets and exaggerating his net worth on paperwork used in making deals and securing financing.
"The broad centrist middle of the American people, I think, understand what he did and why it is so abhorrent," Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn, told CNN. "I'm already deeply disturbed that Donald Trump has succeeded in slow-walking one or more of those cases."
A conviction in New York would trigger an instant appeal, and the timeline for resolving that could be lengthy. In the meantime, however, Biden and Trump's other political foes could accurately label him a convicted felon on the campaign trail.
CNN's Sara Murray said a Trump acquittal would be the nightmare scenario for Democrats.
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"Acquitted is the worst-case scenario for Democrats, because then, it's the only trial you have and Donald Trump gets to go out there and say Joe Biden's prosecutors, which again, not true, came after me. His Department of Justice came after me and they still didn't convict me. I'm still innocent," Murray said.
She also said there could be a hung jury, and Trump's fate would then truly be left to the voters.
