GOP governor responds to Trump’s call for protest: ‘political circus’

New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu on Sunday responded to former President Donald Trump’s call for protests against his possible arrest and indictment by New York prosecutors next week.

Manhattan prosecutors are investigating a $130,000 reimbursement to Trump’s former attorney Michael Cohen for a payment made to adult film star Stormy Daniels who alleges she had an affair with Trump in 2006.

The former president is under investigation over the money Cohen paid Daniels to keep the alleged affair secret ahead of the 2016 presidential election. Trump has denied an affair with Daniels and has sharply criticized the investigation. On Saturday morning, the former president urged his supporters to protest his possible indictment after predicting he would be arrested on Tuesday.

Trump’s call for protests raised concerns about possible violent demonstrations similar to the Jan. 6, 2021 Capitol riot, when he “told his supporters to ‘fight like hell'” after losing the 2020 presidential election, which he claimed that they were due to widespread voter fraud. That day, Trump also told the crowd that they “have no more country.” His supporters then stormed the Capitol to prevent confirmation of Joe Biden’s victory.

CNN’s state of the nation Host Jake Tapper asked Sununu on Sunday if he thought Trump had a responsibility to ensure his supporters protest peacefully to avoid repeating what happened on January 6, 2021.

“Look, when someone is calling for a protest, you always want to make sure it’s peaceful. And we know that will happen. And this has happened before. Throughout history, in recent history in America, people are always out there protesting what they see as a wrongful arrest or wrongful charge. But you want to make sure it’s peaceful. We don’t want history to repeat itself in an overly negative way. But – well, that’s going to happen out there.

He continued, “And it’s not — you can’t just put it on the former president. It’s our responsibility to do it right, in society, in our communities, to make sure we do something when we have something to say, do it the right way and make sure we have a positive impact in the future . But it’s going to be a circus, isn’t it? It’s going to be a bit of a political circus. There will be many unknowns [about possible charges against Trump].”

Calling for protests, Trump wrote in capital letters on his Truth Social: “NOW LEAKS ILLEGAL LEAKS FROM A CORRUPT AND HIGHLY POLITICAL MANHATTAN DIRECTOR’S OFFICE THAT HAS ALLOWED TO SET NEW RECORDS IN VIOLENT CRIME AND Whose LEADER IS FUNDED BY GEORGE SOROS, SHOW ANNOUNCEMENT THAT WITHOUT NO CRIME CAN BE PROVED, AND ON THE BASIS OF AN ANCIENT AND FULLY DISCOVERED (BY NUMEROUS OTHER PROSECUTORS!) FAIRY TALES, THE FAR AND FAR LEADING REPUBLIC CANDIDATE & FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA WILL BE ARRESTED NEXT TUESDAY WEEK . PROTEST, TAKE BACK OUR NATION!”

In their investigation of Trump, New York prosecutors found that the Trump Organization booked Cohen’s reimbursement as legal expenses. However, it is against New York state law for companies to misclassify the nature of expenses. This could lead to a misdemeanor charge against Trump, which could later become a felony if the misclassification was done to cover up another crime.

Additionally, Cohen testified before a grand jury for two days last week and previously pleaded guilty to campaign finance charges after helping with the payment arrangements while Daniels spoke to New York City prosecutors on Wednesday.

news week emailed Trump’s media office for comment.