Cara Mund, who won the Miss America contest in 2018 and is running as a Republican for North Dakota‘s at-large House seat in Congress, slammed Donald Trump for his felony conviction.
Her attack on Trump puts her in a small group of Republicans who aren’t supporting the former president.
‘Proud to be the ONLY ND Republican Candidate not worshiping a convicted felon during this election,’ the beauty pageant winner posted on X Thursday evening.
‘I’ll be the voice of ND, not Donald Trump. I’ll be the leader who helps move the party back to law and order,’ her statement continued, adding ‘I’ll be on the right side of history!’
Thursday afternoon in a New York courthouse, a 12-person jury found Trump guilty of 34 felonies related to falsifying hush money payments to porn star Stormy Daniels.
Miss North Dakota 2017 Cara Mund is crowned as Miss America 2018 by Miss America 2017 Savvy Shields during the 2018 Miss America Competition Show at Boardwalk Hall Arena on September 10, 2017 in Atlantic City, New Jersey. Mund, who is running for Congress in North Dakota, slammed former President Donald Trump for being convicted of 34 felonies Thursday
Mund has been outspoken during her campaign that she is not in support of the former president, saying ‘I will not worship him.’
‘At the end of the day, I’m not representing Donald Trump. I’m representing the people of North Dakota,’ Mund has said previously.
In 2022, Mund ran unsuccessfully for office against Rep. Kelly Armstrong, R-N.D., for the state’s at-large House seat.
Currently, Mund is polling well behind pro-Trump candidate Julie Fedorchak, according to the North Dakota News Cooperative.
Though the race is still wide open ahead of the June 11 primary as the GOP field is crowded and many voters remain undecided.
Another GOP congressional candidate, former Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan, stopped short of bashing the former president for his criminal conduct, though he did urge voters to respect the case’s outcome.
‘Regardless of the result, I urge all Americans to respect the verdict and the legal process,’ he wrote in a statement Thursday.
Mund, 30, was the first Miss America winner from North Dakota
Cara Mund via her campaign Facebook page
Former US President and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump walks to speak to the press after he was convicted in his criminal trial at Manhattan Criminal Court in New York City
Trump has repeatedly denied that he committed any crimes
‘At this dangerously divided moment in our history, all leaders—regardless of party—must not pour fuel on the fire with more toxic partisanship.’
‘We must reaffirm what has made this nation,’ the statement concluded.
Hogan is running for the Senate as a moderate Republican in his solidly blue home state where he was a popular two-term governor.
And the former Maryland governor has said that if elected Republicans will not always be able to count on his vote, highlighting how moderate he is.
His call for a measured response to the verdict was met with fury by Trump’s camp.
‘You just ended your campaign,’ Chris LaCivita, a senior adviser to the Trump campaign, shot back.
