Donald Trump on Friday launched attacks on the judge in his criminal trial and continued to undermine New York’s criminal justice system as he tried to repackage his 34-count felony conviction as fuel, not deterrent, to his latest bid for the White House. .
Trump spoke at his eponymous tower in Manhattan as he returned to the campaign trail a day after he was convicted of trying to illegally influence the 2016 election by falsifying business records to hide a money payment to a porn actress he claimed to have had affairs. sexual with him.
Trump, defiant as ever, argued that the verdict was illegitimate and politically driven and sought to downplay the allegations underlying the case.
“It’s not hush money. It’s a confidentiality agreement, totally legal, totally common,” he said.
In a message intended to galvanize his supporters, he declared: “If they can do this to me, they can do it to anyone.”
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No former president or presumptive candidate has ever faced a felony conviction or the possibility of prison time, and Trump is expected to keep his legal problems at the center of his campaign.
Trump has long argued without evidence that the four accusations against him were orchestrated by Democratic President Joe Biden to try to keep him out of the White House. The hush money case was brought by local prosecutors in Manhattan who do not work for the Justice Department or any White House office.
Trump chose to begin Friday in the atrium of Trump Tower, the bronze and pink marble lobby where he descended his gold escalator to announce his 2016 campaign nine years ago next month.
In his rambling comments, Trump initially began attacking Biden over immigration and tax policies before moving on to his case, snarling that he was threatened with jail time if he violated a gag order. Trump dismissed convoluted parts of the case and trial proceedings as unfair, making false statements and misrepresentations while he did so.
Trump said he wanted to testify at the trial, but that the judge wanted to go into every detail. “I would have liked to testify,” he said. “But he would have said something out of character like ‘it was a beautiful sunny day,’ and it was actually raining.”
Trump, who had the right to testify but did not, also tested the limits of the censure order that prohibits him from publicly criticizing witnesses, including Michael Cohen, and called his former troubleshooter, the star witness in the case, “a scoundrel.”
His son Eric Trump and daughter-in-law Lara Trump joined him, but his wife, Melania Trump, who has been publicly silent since the verdict, was not seen.
Outside on Manhattan’s Fifth Avenue, supporters gathered across the street waved a giant red “TRUMP OR DIE” sign that flew in front of a luxury boutique. A small group of protesters held signs that read “Guilty” and “Justice Matters.”
On Friday morning, his campaign announced that it had raised $34.8 million, thanks to donations received after the verdict. That’s more than a million dollars for each felony charge and more than his political operation raised in January and February combined.
Trump and his campaign had been preparing for a guilty verdict for days, although they were hopeful that the jury would not agree. On Tuesday, Trump railed against the charges, which he repeatedly called “rigged,” and which not even Mother Teresa, the nun and saint, could defeat.
His top advisers released a memo on Wednesday insisting that a verdict would have no impact on the election, whether Trump was convicted or acquitted.
However, the news fell with a jolt. Trump, his staff and reporters in court were under the impression that Thursday’s jury would conclude deliberations for the day at 4:30 p.m. Trump sat smiling and chatting with his attorneys as the proceedings appeared to be coming to a close. .
Trump had spent the hours before the verdict was announced isolated in the private courtroom where he had spent breaks throughout the trial, meeting with his lawyers and campaign aides, eating from a rotating lunch menu of McDonald’s, pizza and sandwiches. .
While the jury decided his fate, he filled his time by making calls, messaging on social media and chatting with friends, including developer Steve Witkoff, who joined him in court, and North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum, who is considered one of the main candidates for vice president.
In a sign that deliberations were expected to continue, Trump’s detention room was equipped with a television on Thursday, according to two people familiar with the facility who, like others, spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the case.
Instead, Judge Merchan announced that a verdict had been reached. Thirty minutes later, Trump heard the jury return a guilty verdict on each count. Trump sat stone-faced as the verdict was read.
His campaign launched a flurry of fundraising appeals, and GOP allies rallied to his side. One text message called him a “political prisoner,” although he has not yet learned whether he will be sentenced to prison. The campaign also began selling black “Make America Great Again” hats to reflect a “dark day in history.”
Advisers reported an immediate flood of contributions so intense that WinRed, the platform the campaign uses to raise funds, crashed. The $34.8 million raised Thursday did not include what Trump raised at his in-person fundraiser or the donations that continued to come in online Friday.
“President Trump and our campaign are immensely grateful for this outpouring of support from patriots across our country,” Trump campaign senior advisers Chris LaCivita and Susie Wiles said in a statement. “President Trump is fighting to save our nation and November 5 is the day Americans will give the true verdict.”
Trump has long complained that the trial limited his campaign appearances for several weeks. “I want to campaign,” he had told reporters Thursday morning before a verdict was reached.
However, it is unclear how much Trump’s agenda will ramp up in the coming days. Trump held just a handful of public campaign events while the trial was going on, even though he had Wednesdays, as well as evenings and weekends, to do whatever he wanted.
Over the next two months, he will have his first debate with Biden, announce his running mate and formally accept his party’s nomination at the Republican National Convention.
But before he goes to Milwaukee for the Republican National Convention, Trump will have to return to court on July 11 for sentencing. He could face penalties ranging from a fine or probation to four years in prison.
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