Submitted photo West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice on Wednesday talks about the indictment against Donald Trump during a press briefing from the Capitol. Justice also discussed the completion of improvements at Kanawha State Forest and the construction of cabins at Coopers Rocks to encourage stargazers to come to West Virginia.

CHARLESTON — Republican Gov. Jim Justice of West Virginia Wednesday doubled down on his support for Donald Trump while the chairman of the state Democratic Party was critical of his loyalty to the indicted former president.

“It doesn’t surprise me that Jim Justice would jump to Donald Trump’s defense,” Chairman Mike Pushkin said.

“There’s an old saying about ‘birds of a feather flocking together,'” Pushkin said. “Trump is the first former president in the history of our republic to be criminally indicted, and Gov. Justice is the only governor in our history to have a bank try to garnish his wages for non-payment of debts.”

Trump was arraigned Tuesday in Manhattan and pleaded not guilty to 34 counts of falsifying records to hide hush money payments to prevent stories about affairs from seeing the light of day during the 2016 presidential election.

Justice, echoing what Trump and other Republicans have been saying about the allegations, called the indictment a travesty and a witch hunt as he discussed the indictment during an online press briefing Wednesday afternoon from the Capitol.

“Without any question (Tuesday) to me was a sad day with the indictment of former president Donald F. Trump. I thought it was a travesty. I thought it was terrible in every way,” he said.

Justice earlier on Tuesday released a statement on Twitter in support of Trump, his family and “especially my huntin’ buddies Don Jr. and Eric.”

“I am so sorrowed about the lack of respect shown toward the commitment and accomplishments that President Trump has given us,” Justice said in the Twitter post. “I am so sorrowed at the witch hunt on President Trump and his entire family. I am so sorrowed at the lack of respect toward us — OUR America.”

Pushkin said Justice is “repeating Republican talking points that ignore the testimony of the witnesses that appeared before the grand jury, some of whom worked for the former president. While it is a sad day when a former president is criminally indicted, we can’t simply ignore evidence because it points to the former president’s guilt. We are a nation of laws, and no one is or should be considered above the law. And that includes Donald Trump.”

The New York State indictment is not the only investigation underway against Trump and his associates. The others include alleged election interference in Georgia, taking classified documents and the Jan. 6, 2021, riot by Trump supporters to disrupt the Electoral College certification by Congress.

It is, however, the first time a former president has been indicted. Trump also is the first president in U.S. history to have been impeached twice and acquitted twice.

No one is perfect, “but it’s hard to not acknowledge the greatness and the goodness that this family has done for us,” Justice said during the briefing.