The former US president, Donald Trump, blasted his “sick” opponents and “fascists” in a tirade on Friday following what he called a “very unfair” trial that resulted in his conviction. This made him the first former US president to do so.
The 77-year-old Republican declared he would file an appeal. He and President Joe Biden are running almost identical campaigns for the White House in 2024.
He declared, “We’re going to be appealing this scam.”
Trump was speaking in the elegant lobby of his iconic Trump Tower property in Manhattan at what was supposed to be a press conference.
However, as soon as he stood up, he began an astounding 35 minutes of derogatory remarks, unfounded assertions, and nonsequiturs that were a reflection of his boiling rage. Then he departed without making any inquiries.
Trump called the trial’s judge, Juan Merchan, a “tyrant,” saying that Merchan “literally crucified” witnesses.
“This man who looks like an angel, but he is really a devil,” he said in the remarks, which were carried live by all the major US television networks.
In addition to complaining that the jury trial was unfair, Trump frequently veered off into attacks on Biden and illegal immigrants, who he said were speaking “languages unknown” and include many terrorists, as well as “a lot of people” released from prisons.
“They’re coming in from all over the world into our country, and we have a president and a group of fascists that don’t want to do anything about it because they could right now, today, he could stop it. But he’s not. They’re destroying our country,” Trump said.
A jury found him guilty on all 34 counts of fabricating business records to conceal a payment of hush money intended to keep porn star Stormy Daniels quiet about an alleged sexual encounter that he believed would ruin his chances of winning the 2016 presidential election on Thursday.
The case put forth by prosecutors was successful in showing that the use of hush money and the unlawful concealment of the payment were part of a larger scheme to keep voters ignorant of Trump’s actions right before his contest against Hillary Clinton.
Trump could be sentenced to prison, but probation is far more likely.
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Four days before Trump is scheduled to accept the party’s official nomination in Milwaukee on July 11, Merchan scheduled the sentencing.
Although the legal landmark does not prevent Trump from continuing his election bid, it does cast the already tense contest into even more unpredictable waters.
Trump’s campaign immediately made a fund-raising pitch after the verdict featuring a picture of the 77-year-old and the claim: “I am a political prisoner!”
According to the campaign, $34.8 million in donations flooded in, crashing the website.
“From just minutes after the sham trial verdict was announced, our digital fundraising system was overwhelmed,” the campaign said.
Trump is facing three much more serious criminal indictments in addition to the New York case because of his attempts to overturn his loss to Biden in the 2020 election and his hoarding of top-secret documents at his Florida home.
It is unlikely that those cases will go to trial before the election in November, though.
Biden has refrained from bringing up Trump’s numerous legal troubles thus far. In his capacity as president, he is anxious to deflect criticism from Republicans who accuse him of interfering with the legal system.
He must now determine if Trump’s conviction modifies the calculation.
Following the verdicts, Biden’s campaign swiftly declared that “no one is above the law.” But it also said that since “the threat Trump poses to our democracy has never been greater,” the focus should shift to the election.
Biden remained silent regarding the historic occurrences in New York.
On Friday, he has a busy public schedule, including talks with the Belgian prime minister, a celebration for NFL Super Bowl champions the Kansas City Chiefs, and a newly announced speech from the White House on the Middle East.
A spokesman for President Vladimir Putin, whose rule has seen dozens of political opponents, journalists and human rights campaigners murdered, claimed that the jury trial was a “de-facto elimination of political rivals.”
“I would say that’s a classic case of projection,” countered US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, while attending a NATO meeting in Prague.
Trump was described as the “victim of judicial harassment” by Matteo Salvini, the far-right deputy prime minister of Italy.
AFP
