Donald Trump has been found guilty on 34 charges. While he calls the verdict a “disgrace,” the Democrats are popping the corks. The most important reactions to the verdict in the hush money trial.
In the historic trial about the concealment of hush money payments to a porn actress, the jury found former US President Donald Trump guilty on all counts. It is the first time in the history of the United States that a former president has been convicted of a crime. It is no wonder that the verdict has moved the USA like no other in a long time. The reactions range from relief on the one hand to frustration on the other.
Trump himself accepted the verdict with an outwardly unmoved expression and a stony face. In a brief statement outside the courtroom, he called the decision a “disgrace” and said: “I am a very innocent man.” His lawyer announced that he would appeal the verdict.
Trump has received support from Mike Johnson, Republican leader of the US House of Representatives, among others. He described the verdict as “wrong” and “dangerous”. “Today is a shameful day in American history,” he wrote on Platform X. It was a “political exercise”, not a legal one. The decision is further proof that the Democrats will stop at nothing to silence dissenting opinions and destroy their political opponents, Johnson continued.
Republicans criticize verdict against Donald Trump
Other prominent Republicans and ardent supporters of Donald Trump have also reacted angrily to the guilty verdict against the former US president in the hush money trial. Republican hardliner from the US House of Representatives, Jim Jordan, called the verdict a “farce”. The chairman of the House Judiciary Committee spoke of a “biased judge” and an “unfair trial” that only served to hinder Trump in the current presidential election campaign. Trump will be found right in the appeal process.
Trump's son Donald Junior posted several messages on the X platform. One of them was: “Such bullshit!” The Democrats had succeeded in their years-long attempt to turn America into a “third world shithole.” With regard to the date of the presidential election, he warned: “November 5th is our last chance to save it.” The former US ambassador to Germany, Richard Grenell, argued that the ruling could not stop Trump. Grenell wrote on X: “I've seen enough… Donald Trump has been elected the 47th President of the United States.”
Radical Republican congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene provocatively posted an upside-down US flag on X. This symbol is used by Trump's supporters and also played a role in the attack on the US Capitol on January 6, 2021.
“It is often said that no one is above the law, but it is also true that no one is below the law. If the defendant had not been Donald Trump, the case would never have been brought to trial,” writes Florida Governor Ron DeSantis on the short message service X. DeSantis had applied for the presidential nomination for the Republicans in the USA, but dropped out of the race in January and has since supported his previous rival Donald Trump.
What happens to Donald Trump if he is found guilty? Stern reporter explains
Relief among the Democrats
The verdict was received positively by all those who are not part of the Trump camp. The prosecution's key witness in the hush money trial against Donald Trump, Michael Cohen, welcomed the guilty verdict against his former boss. Trump's ex-lawyer spoke on the online service X of an “important day” for the rule of law. It had been a difficult journey for him and his family, but “the truth is always important.” Cohen had testified in the trial that he had paid hush money with Trump's consent. According to the prosecution, he received this back from the Trump corporation disguised as legal fees.
The White House has declared that it respects the “rule of law.” “We respect the rule of law and have no further comment,” said a White House spokesman in Washington. “Trump is a convicted felon. This is not a victory for an individual, it is a victory for an idea. The idea that we all follow the same rules. The rules of law won today,” wrote Democratic Representative Eric Swalwell from California on X.
US President Joe Biden has meanwhile used the conviction of former President Donald Trump in the hush money trial to make an election appeal and to promote his own cause. “There is only one way to keep Donald Trump out of the Oval Office: at the ballot box,” the Democrat wrote on his private X-account on Thursday. “Donate to our campaign today.”
Joe Biden uses Trump verdict for campaign advertising
Biden's campaign team also said that the trial in New York had shown that no one is above the law. “The threat that Trump poses to our democracy has never been greater than it is today,” it warned in a statement released after the verdict. A second term for Trump would mean “chaos.”
After the conviction of former President Donald Trump in the hush money trial, dozens of onlookers gathered outside the court in New York. Some of them celebrated the verdict, as a reporter from the German Press Agency observed on site. One woman held up a sign reading “Trump convicted” and danced, one man's sign read “guilty” and another's read “Lock him up.”
Other people engaged in heated discussions with Trump supporters. Numerous media representatives and a large police presence were also present. The park opposite the courthouse had been used since the beginning of the trial as a gathering place for onlookers and demonstrators – explicitly designated and guarded by the police.
