CNN host Kasie Hunt suggested that supporters of former President Donald Trump would have backed O.J. Simpson during his notorious murder trial. Simpson, a legendary NFL player, died of cancer on Wednesday, his family announced.
He was famously acquitted in a highly controversial trial for the 1994 murders of his ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend Ron Goldman. The verdict remains one of the most disputed in U.S. history.
On "CNN This Morning," GOP strategist Sarah Longwell noted cultural parallels between the Simpson trial and Trump's influence. She mentioned that both figures are seen as more than just individuals—they're cultural symbols.
Longwell said, "As a culture, everyone kind of knows Trump is guilty the way we all knew that O.J. was guilty, but there's a lot of people invested in it being about something else beyond the guilt, right? Because these figures are so towering and so big that they become stand-ins, they become cultural totems as opposed to just people convicted or people being accused of crimes."
She observed that both Trump and Simpson portrayed themselves as victims amid their controversies. Hunt displayed The New York Post's cover about Simpson's death, which labeled him as a "murderer" and a "liar."
Hunt remarked on the cover's bold message, considering how it might be perceived today. She speculated whether Trump's base would support Simpson if the situations were reversed, acknowledging the complexity of such a scenario.
Meanwhile, a New York judge recently denied Trump's request to delay his upcoming trial. It is set to begin next month.
Trump faces 34 charges of falsifying business records, to which he has pleaded not guilty. Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg accuses him of concealing damaging information from voters in 2016.
The allegations against Trump involve hush-money payments made during the 2016 presidential campaign, intended to protect his candidacy.