Former President Donald Trump’s attorney John Lauro argued that West Virginia is “much more diverse” than Washington, D.C. as he called for a venue change in the case charging his client for efforts to overturn the 2020 election.
Lauro, in an appearance on CBS’ “Face the Nation,” told host Major Garrett that Trump’s team will “absolutely” pursue a change of venue as he declared that they’d prefer somewhere with a “diverse” venue and jury.
″[Somewhere] that reflects the characteristics of the American people, it’s up to the judge, I think West Virginia would be an excellent venue to try this case,” said Lauro of a state where Trump easily beat President Joe Biden in 2020.
“They’re close to D.C. and a much more diverse…”
Lauro’s suggested state falls short of being as “diverse” as others as U.S. Census Bureau estimates show that nearly 93% of West Virginia residents are white.
West Virginia is also tied with Vermont as the second-least racially diverse state in the nation, according to the bureau’s diversity index based on 2020 census data.
The comments arrived on the same day Trump took to his Truth Social platform to claim that there’s “no way” he can get a fair trial in D.C. while calling for the recusal of Judge Tanya S. Chutkan on Sunday.
Dozens of Jan. 6 defendants have made requests to move venues outside of D.C., too, although those requests have not been approved by judges, CNN reported.
Users on X (Twitter’s rebrand) mocked Lauro’s suggested venue change and left him with a simple message for the former president: “do your coup in West Virginia if you want a West Virginia jury.”