For the first time in history, a former president has become a convicted felon — 34 times over. As expected, his supporters in Washington, D.C. didn’t take the news well.
After the reading of Thursday’s verdict, bombastic Colorado congresswoman Lauren Boebert took mere minutes to express her outrage on social media.
“As we all knew, this was ALWAYS about election interference and stopping President Trump from winning his rightful re-election to the White House,” the right-wing firebrand posted on X. “We stand with PRESIDENT DONALD J. TRUMP!”
An hour before the verdict was read, Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene — a conspiracy theorist and election denier — wrote that Trump’s trial was unfair.
“This case has been rigged from the start and we all knew it,” she said. “This isn’t a prosecution, it’s a persecution.”
She later followed that post with an image of an upside-down U.S. flag — what has become a symbol of Trump supporters’ “Stop the Steal” movement.
Trump emerged from the courthouse after being convicted to say he was a “very innocent man” who was the victim of a “rigged, disgraceful trial.”
But there’s no evidence to refute the legitimacy of the seven-week trial that ended with the former president being a convicted criminal.
A Manhattan jury found Trump guilty on dozens of counts of falsifying business records to cover up a hush-money payment to porn star Stormy Daniels in a plot to silence claims of an affair that could have harmed his presidential campaign.
“This verdict is the corrupt result of a corrupt trial, a corrupt judge, and a corrupt DA,” Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz raged on X. “We will stand with President Trump now more than ever to save the country.”
Democrats meanwhile celebrated Trump’s conviction as a win for the rule of law.
“Donald Trump is a convicted felon,” outspoken California Rep. Eric Swalwell wrote online. “This verdict is not a win for any single person. It’s a win for an idea. The idea that we all follow the same rules. The rule of law won today.”
His Golden State colleague Adam Schiff echoed those sentiments along with a laundry list of other court rulings that have gone against Trump.
“First, a court found Donald Trump to be a sexual abuser,” the liberal lawmaker wrote on Facebook. “He was then found to be a fraudulent business owner. Now Donald J. Trump is a convicted felon. All are an affirmation of the rule of law. And Trump’s unfitness for office.”
New York’s 14th District Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez reposted an Associated Press story announcing Trump’s conviction, but didn’t immediately release a statement. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer didn’t immediately comment online either.
Biden campaign’s @michaelwtyler: “In New York today, we saw that no one is above the law.” pic.twitter.com/nXsjlWvm7j
— Joey Garrison (@joeygarrison) May 30, 2024
President Joe Biden used his likely opponent’s bad fortune as a campaign opportunity.
“In New York today, we saw that no one is above the law,” read a statement from the campaign’s communication director. “But today’s verdict does not change the fact that the American people face a simple reality. There’s only one way to keep Donald Trump out of the Oval Office: At the ballot box.”
Trump’s punishment will be doled out at a July 11 sentencing hearing. He’s expected to appeal the verdict.
