A federal judge knocked Donald Trump for refusing to accept the results of the presidential election on Monday. The judge said former Vice President Al Gore had better standing to challenge the 2000 presidential election results but he was “a man” and accepted his loss.
“Al Gore had a better case to argue than Mr. Trump and he was a man about what happened to him. He accepted it and walked away,” Senior U.S. District Judge Reggie Walton, a George W. Bush appointee, said according to CNN.
Walton was referring to Gore’s decision to end his bid for the presidency after weeks of legal battles due to an extremely close race in Florida.
The judge made the comments during a plea hearing for Capitol rioter Adam Johnson, 36, who was photographed carrying House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s lectern through the Capitol building on Jan. 6.
Johnson pleaded guilty on Monday to entering and remaining in a restricted building or grounds, according to CNN.
“What concerns me, sir, is that you were gullible enough to come to Washington, DC, from Florida based on a lie, and the person who inspired you to do what you do is still making those statements, and my concern is that you are gullible enough to do it again,” Walton told Johnson.
Johnson accepted blame for the situation, telling the judge that he got “caught up in the moment” and experienced a “hard couple of years” that led him to spend time “listening to a lot of information and reading things” online, according to CNN.
He could face a sentence of up to six months in prison. Johnson will also pay $500 in restitution for damages done to the Capitol during the riot, according to the plea deal he made with prosecutors.
Walton is the latest judge to criticize Trump for lying to his supporters about the election. Speaking at a sentencing hearing for Capitol defendant John Lolos last week Judge Amit Mehta called rioters “a pawn in the game played by people who know better.”
They were “called to Washington, DC, by an elected official, prompted to walk to the Capitol by an elected official,” Judge Mehta said, according to CNN. “People like Mr. Lolos were told lies, were told falsehoods, were told the election was stolen when it was not. Regrettably, people like Mr. Lolos who were told those lies took it to heart. And they are the ones paying the consequences.”
“Those who created the conditions that lead to Mr. Lolos’ conduct have in no meaningful measure been held accountable,” he said. “You were a pawn. You were a pawn in the game played by people who know better.”
More than 700 people have been charged in connection to the Jan. 6 riots, according to Insider. Over 130 have pleaded guilty so far.