Endangered Republicans gamble backing Trump after guilty verdict as vulnerable Democrats remain cautious

Former President Donald Trump lost Rep. Mike Garcia’s district by more than 12 points four years ago. And that was before he was convicted on 34 felony charges.

Former President Donald Trump lost Rep. Mike Garcia’s district by more than 12 points four years ago. And that was before he was convicted on 34 felony charges. But that doesn’t mean the California Republican is abandoning Trump. “No,” Garcia said when asked if the conviction shook his confidence in his party’s standard bearer. “I mean, the alternative is Joe Biden. There’s obviously no way I can support four more years of Joe Biden.” Garcia is hardly alone. In many bellwether districts that will determine the next House majority, including in the 19 GOP districts Biden carried in 2020, Republicans are quickly falling in line behind Trump. And they’re echoing his line that the New York hush money trial was unfair and that he’s a victim being persecuted, aligning with a riled-up base and effectively gambling that swing voters won’t punish them for backing a felon at the top of the ticket. “My district is full of very smart people with a firm grasp of reality,” said Rep. John Duarte, a fellow California Republican whose district Biden carried by 13 points four years ago. “They can smell bullsh*t.”