NEW YORK (1010 WINS) -- Rep. Lee Zeldin, fresh off his win in the GOP primary for New York governor, told 1010 WINS Wednesday that he'd support Donald Trump if he ran for president again.
Zeldin, who clinched the Republican nomination after defeating Andrew Giuliani and several other challengers in Tuesday’s election, said he’d back a 2024 presidential run by Trump, who the Long Island congressman has previously voiced support for.
“I believe if he decides to run, I think he’ll be the Republican nominee and that he would win, and I would be supportive,” Zeldin told 1010 WINS' Newsline With Brigitte Quinn.
Trump has been in the headlines again this month amid wild hearings by the Jan. 6 committee investigating the 2021 riot at the U.S. Capitol. At the sixth hearing Tuesday, former junior White House staffer Cassidy Hutchinson testified that Trump grabbed at the steering wheel of the presidential SUV when the Secret Service refused to let him go to the Capitol to join his supporters.
It was the latest revelation from the hearings that has some saying Trump should face criminal charges over the riot.
“I don’t agree,” Zeldin said. “There’s no crimes. Just because you’re upset at a person who you politically might have some disagreement, or strong disagreement, with doesn’t mean that you just put them in prison. There has to actually, truly be a crime committed. You can’t just wish that upon somebody and think that someone’s just going to answer the call and slap handcuffs on somebody else. Our system doesn’t work like that.”
“You don’t do that to political opponents,” Zeldin continued. “You settle your score at the ballot box. If he was to choose to run again, you can support candidates against him and you try to beat him that way. But the idea that you’re just going to put handcuffs on someone without identifying actually what the crime is, our country doesn’t work like that.”
The Jan. 6 hearings are taking place as the Justice Department expands its investigation into the riot. Testimony has deepened, but not resolved, questions about whether Trump himself could face criminal charges for his conduct.
The hearings also come as Trump is laying the groundwork to challenge President Joe Biden after his 2020 loss. Zeldin, for his part, voted against certifying Biden's Electoral College win and has been a staunch ally of Trump.
Aides have been debating the merits of when Trump should announce his intentions to run, according to the Associated Press.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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