fwiw, I looked for a more recent article on this topic, and this is all the search engines of choice could find...
Republicans are sticking by Trump, the felon -- even in battleground states (Updated: 05/31/2024 03:15 PM EDT)
www.politico.com
... Senior elected Republicans across the country are racing to Donald Trump's side following his criminal conviction " even those who've criticized him openly in the past.
Speaker Mike Johnson went beyond defending the former president, taking the unusual step of calling for the Supreme Court to intervene in Trump's appeal. House Judiciary Chair Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) made clear on Friday that he'd take new steps to investigate the team that got the conviction in New York, writing Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg to seek his Capitol Hill testimony on the "political prosecution" of Trump.
"There is a zeal out there in the base, an enthusiasm, a motivation, and ... President Trump is no longer just an individual. He is now a symbol," Johnson told conservative host Hugh Hewitt on Friday. "He is a symbol of fighting back against this corruption of our system and the deep state and all the rest."
Even the handful of GOP senators who once resisted Trump's influence on the party were critical of the conviction. Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, whose relationship with Trump unraveled after he congratulated President Joe Biden for winning in 2020, posted on social media Thursday night that he expects the former president's appeal to succeed " without directly mentioning Trump.
Even Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine), who supported the former president's second impeachment, issued a statement criticizing the decision to bring the case.
It was a striking display of how fully Trump has reasserted his grip on his party as he marches toward a third straight presidential nomination. With the exception of a few blue-state Republicans who still need to carve out distance to hang on to their seats, the GOP's plan for 2024 is now clear: Hug Trump tightly and make the most of the base's fury over his conviction, betting that independent voters won't be moved. ...
