Trump spoke in length for the first time since the jury in his hush money trial in New York found him guilty on all 34 counts, venting his disgust with the decision.
In front of a backdrop of American flags, less than 24 hours after being found guilty on 34 criminal counts, Donald Trump was eager to vent weeks’ worth of resentment.
At a news conference on Friday at Trump Tower in Manhattan, the pugnacious former president defended himself for forty minutes with a litany of digressions and falsehoods.
Previously Featured: Trump Verdict News – Conviction on 34 Charges, Donald Trump Will Attend Press Conference
The incident marked the start of a brand-new reality: Trump is now the first former president to face criminal conviction.
At the beginning of the press conference, Trump asserted, “This is all done by Biden and his staff,” going on to accuse the president of his legal troubles in the absence of any supporting documentation. This is what Washington does. Nobody has ever witnessed something similar to this.
Following a New York jury’s verdict on all 34 felony charges of Trump falsifying company records about payments he made to an adult film star during the 2016 election, Trump voiced his displeasure by calling his prosecution a “witch hunt” on the Truth Social platform. In a further email for money, he described himself as a “political prisoner.”
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But Trump’s first chance to voice his complaints in-depth was during the press conference.
He denounced Judge Juan Merchan as “conflicted” and labeled Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg as “failed.”
Trump refused to talk about the alleged disagreement, claiming Merchan’s gag order prevented him from doing so earlier in the trial. (In the past, Merchan has been targeted by Trump and his friends for a $15 gift he made to Biden in 2020 and the fact that the judge’s daughter was employed by a nonprofit that leans Democratic.)
Although the gag order barred Trump from discussing witnesses, juries, court personnel, other attorneys (apart from Bragg), and any of their families in public, it did not forbid him from discussing Merchan personally.
Regarding the alleged dispute, Trump declared, “I am not permitted to talk about it.” “No one has ever been as conflicted as this person.”
During the trial, Trump broke the gag order ten times, costing him $10,000 in penalties and making Merchan threaten to put him in jail.
Additionally, Trump stated that he intended to testify, but in the end, he decided against it out of fear that he would lie. He defended the choice on Friday, claiming that not even George Washington would ever testify in his own favor.
“I’d have given a statement. I desired to provide a testimony. Trump stated, “The notion is you never testify.” “Don’t testify if George Washington was involved. so they will point out any tiny errors in what you say.
In addition, he referred to his former lawyer Michael Cohen, a crucial prosecution witness, as a “sleaze bag,” refusing to mention him by name and referencing the gag order once more. Longtime Trump lawyer Cohen turned on his former employer and served 13 months in jail after admitting to lying to Congress in 2018 about campaign finance violations related to his work for the president.
Trump furthered a narrative he has been advancing throughout the campaign by presenting himself as the victim of an unfair system that is designed to harm both him and his supporters.
“If they can do this to me, they can do this to anyone,” Trump said as he began his speech. “These individuals are wicked.”
Trump also stated that he may go to prison for up to 187 years, but several legal experts told NBC News that given his age, his clean background, and other considerations, there’s a chance he won’t go to jail at all. Furthermore, although though each offense carries a four-year penalty, it is anticipated that sentences would be served concurrently rather than consecutively.
Previously: Jury Will Consider The Felonies Against Trump On Wednesday
The anticipated political battle lines were set not long after Trump’s guilty judgments were announced.
Justice had been served, Democrats and the vocal group of Republicans who are particularly anti-Trump celebrated their swift victory laps. Meanwhile, Trump’s already fervent Republican base grew even more incensed by what they see to be political persecution and pledged to exact retribution.
Republican members of Congress Mike Collins, R-Ga., advised law enforcement officers to “get active.”
Collins said on X, “Time for Red State AGs and DAs to get active.”
Time for Red State AGs and DAs to get busy.
— Rep. Mike Collins (@RepMikeCollins) May 30, 2024
“Trump is obsessed by his own appetite for revenge and retaliation,” stated Michael Tyler, a spokesperson for the Biden campaign, in a statement following Trump’s news conference on Friday.
“Anyone watching could only conclude that Donald Trump is unable to serve as president of the United States after witnessing him rant about his personal issues and lie about the American judicial system,” he added.
But there were tangible indications that a guilty conviction would enliven Trump’s electoral base, just as he had promised.
More than $34.8 million was donated in the 24 hours between the verdict and Thursday at midnight, according to the Republican National Committee and the Trump campaign, setting new fundraising records for the GOP. Due to delays in campaign finance reporting regulations, such figures cannot be independently verified; however, an RNC spokeswoman informed NBC News that the sum was what Trump’s joint fundraising committee with the RNC was able to raise using the online fundraising platform WinRed.
Top Trump campaign officials released a statement that said, “Within minutes of the sham trial verdict being announced, our digital fundraising system was overwhelmed with support, and President Trump raised $34.8 million dollars from small dollar donors, despite temporary delays online due to the amount of traffic.”
Additionally, there are indications that the party’s most influential members are ready to support Trump.
According to a campaign official, Trump attended a Manhattan event given by South Florida sugar billionaire and key Republican supporter Pepe Fanjul after the judgment was announced.
Shawn McGuire, a partner at Sequoia Capital, a hedge firm, has said that he is contributing $300,000 to Trump’s campaign. In 2016, McGuire voted for Hillary Clinton.
“In 2016, I was terrified of Trump and had consumed too much Kook-Aid media,” he wrote on X. “As a result, I voted for Hillary and gave to her campaign.”
He went on, “I think this is one of the most significant elections of my life right now, in 2024, and I’m supporting Trump.”
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