Trump cowboy plots political future after Capitol breach NBC News

He sees himself as governor one day.The first-term county commissioner forged a group of rodeo acquaintances in 2019 into a promotional Cowboys for Trump posse to spread his conservative message about gun rights, immigration controls and abortion restrictions.Trump’s election defeat has left the 47-year-old father in a lonely fight for his political life after preaching to crowds at the U.S. Capitol siege, promising to take his guns to Biden’s inauguration and landing in jail for over a week.In Washington, prosecutors unveiled photographs of Griffin climbing a toppled fence and another barrier to access the Capitol steps.Public defense attorneys say a close reading of the law shows the area wasn’t off limits. “You think that the governor hates me as a county commissioner — put a gun and a badge on me, and we’ll see.”Jeff Swanson, chairman of the Otero County Democratic Party, says Griffin’s divisive remarks hinder county efforts to secure state infrastructure spending, and he has engaged in intimidation by recording Cowboys for Trump videos from his office with a shotgun within view.In Alamogordo, Griffin’s rhetoric on race has steeled the determination of opponents who want him out of office.Griffin delivered a scathing rebuke last year as the NFL announced game-opening renditions of “Lift Every Voice and Sing,” also known as the Black national anthem.“They want to destroy our country,” Griffin said in a video monologue.