Noem on hush money case: ‘It’s unprecedented in how ridiculous it is’

South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem (R) slammed the New York hush money case brought against former President Trump as “ridiculous” on Sunday.

“It’s the way that Democrats are fighting these days using the judicial system and activist judges to do so,” Noem said on CNN’s “State of the Union.” “My hope is that the people and the jury will do what is right and hear the evidence and see clearly that this is an unprecedented trial, but it’s unprecedented in how ridiculous it is.”

Noem, a staunch ally of the former president, also said that prosecutors should have brought the case against Trump years ago instead of in the midst of an election season. Trump will be spending the majority of the next few weeks in a Manhattan court room after the hush money trial kicked off last week.

“I think it’s a little ridiculous that they’ve waited years to bring these types of charges against Donald Trump. You know, if they wanted to make these kinds of charges against him, they should have done it two years ago, when this happened. To do it conveniently during a presidential election when he’s campaigning to return to the White House, I think, proves that this is all politically motivated,” she said.

Her comments echo familiar remarks made by Trump and his allies, who have suggested Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s (D) case against the former president should have been brought earlier if it was not politically motivated. Noem has also been floated as a potential running mate to Trump as he seeks a second term in the White House.

The former president is facing 34 counts of falsifying business records in connection to reimbursements Trump made to his ex-fixer, Michael Cohen, for a $130,000 payment made to adult film star Stormy Daniels ahead of the 2016 election to stay quiet about an alleged affair.