Trump conviction in hush-money case sparks
sharply divergent reactions
Republican House speaker Mike Johnson bemoans
‘shameful day’ while Democrats praise strength of US justice system
Joan E
Greve in Washington and Nick Robins-Early
Fri 31 May
2024 02.55 CEST
Donald
Trump’s conviction on 34 felony counts of falsifying business records set off a
political firestorm in Washington on Thursday, with Republicans furiously
lambasting the verdict as a miscarriage of justice while Democrats commended
New York jurors for rendering a fair judgment in one of the most historic
trials in US history.
Republicans
unsurprisingly rallied around Trump, reiterating their baseless allegations
that the Biden administration had engaged in political persecution of the
former US president.
“Today is a
shameful day in American history,” said Mike Johnson, the Republican House
speaker. “This was a purely political exercise, not a legal one. The
weaponization of our justice system has been a hallmark of the Biden
administration, and the decision today is further evidence that Democrats will
stop at nothing to silence dissent and crush their political opponents.”
Congressman
Jim Jordan, the pugnacious rightwing Republican chair of the House judiciary
committee, similarly bemoaned the verdict as “a travesty of justice”, adding:
“The Manhattan kangaroo court shows what happens when our justice system is
weaponized by partisan prosecutors in front of a biased judge with an unfair
process.”
Some of
Trump’s advisers and family members were even more blunt in their assessment of
the verdict. “Such bullshit,” Donald Trump Jr, the former president’s eldest
son, wrote on Twitter/X.
A number of
Trump’s allies predicted the conviction would be reversed on appeal and would
only mobilize Republican voters in the election, while at least one lawmaker
suggested the verdict would set a dangerous precedent.
“This
verdict says more about the system than the allegations. It will be seen as
politically motivated and unfair, and it will backfire tremendously on the
political left,” said Republican senator and close Trump ally Lindsey Graham.
“I fear we have opened up Pandora’s box on the presidency itself.”
Meanwhile,
Democrats were more muted in their response to the verdict, framing the jurors’
decision as a reflection of the strength of the US justice system.
“In New
York today, we saw that no one is above the law. Donald Trump has always
mistakenly believed he would never face consequences for breaking the law for
his own personal gain,” said Michael Tyler, the Biden campaign communications
director.
Senator
Sheldon Whitehouse, the Democratic chair of the Senate judiciary courts
subcommittee, argued the verdict confirmed that Trump was “not fit to lead the
greatest nation in the world”.
“It’s only
in honest courtrooms that the former president has been unable to lie and bully
his way out of trouble,” Whitehouse said. “Americans trust juries for good
reason.”
Senator
Chris Coons, a Democratic members of the Senate judiciary committee, added: “I
commend the jurors for their service and urge all Americans, no matter their
party affiliation, to accept and respect the outcome of this trial.”
Hillary
Clinton posted an image on Instagram of a mug with her cartoon outline sipping
from a mug and the phrase “turns out she was right about everything” on it. The
New Yorker also debuted a cartoon for the front cover of their upcoming
magazine, showing handcuffs being put on Trump’s exaggeratedly tiny hands.
Eric Adams,
the New York mayor, tweeted that the NYPD would be ready to “respond to any and
all circumstances, including large-scale protests”.
After
dismissing the verdict as a “disgrace”, Trump immediately turned his conviction
into a campaign issue, sending a fundraising email to supporters describing
himself as a “political prisoner”.
“But with
your support at this moment in history, WE WILL WIN BACK THE WHITE HOUSE AND
MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!” the email read. “WE MUST MAKE JOE BIDEN REGRET EVER
COMING AFTER US!”
The
National Republican Senatorial Committee also issued a fundraising pitch after
the jury issued its verdict, attacking the trial as a “witch-hunt”.
Joe Biden
himself declined to offer any comment or reaction to the verdict on Thursday;
Ian Sams, spokesperson for the White House counsel’s office, said in a
statement: “We respect the rule of law, and have no additional comment.”
But Biden’s
campaign team made it clear that the president would continue to prosecute his
own case against Trump as the country looks ahead to November.
“Today’s
verdict does not change the fact that the American people face a simple
reality,” Tyler said. “There is still only one way to keep Donald Trump out of
the Oval Office: at the ballot box. Convicted felon or not, Trump will be the
Republican nominee for president.”
Trump
issued a rambling statement on Thursday night calling himself a “very innocent
man” and describing the trial as “rigged”. He blamed the Biden administration
and what he called a “Soros-backed” district attorney for the verdict, a
reference to billionaire George Soros who is a common target of right wing
conspiracy theories and outrage.
“This was a
disgrace. This was a rigged trial by a conflicted judge who was corrupt. It’s a
rigged trial, a disgrace,” Trump stated. “This was a rigged, disgraceful
trial.”
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