Donald Trump guilty verdict | 33 minutes of gall

The day after the guilty verdict, Donald Trump delivered a disjointed speech full of lies.

(New York) His lectern stood in the lobby of Trump Tower, just a few meters from the escalator that took him to his press conference on June 16, 2015 where he announced his candidacy for the presidential election from 2016.

But Friday morning, his speech was not that of a neophyte candidate promising to drain the Washington swamp, build a wall on the southern border or create a record number of jobs. It was the disjointed, angry and mendacious speech of a former president and presidential candidate who was trying to recover from a verdict that now makes him a convicted criminal.

Speech likely to galvanize his supporters, but also to cool certain undecided voters.

“We live in a fascist state,” denounced Donald Trump during his 33-minute diatribe during which he attacked the judge in charge of his trial in New York, Juan Merchan, the Manhattan prosecutor Alvin Bragg and Joe Biden, among others.

“Everything comes from the White House,” he said, falsely accusing the Democratic president of having orchestrated his indictment in New York, a local affair. “He is the worst president in the history of our country, the most incompetent, the stupidest we have ever had. »

Later in the day, before making an announcement related to the conflict between Israel and Hamas, Joe Biden commented for the first time on the Manhattan jury verdict, calling his Republican rival’s reaction “dangerous and irresponsible.”

“The American principle that no one is above the law has been reaffirmed,” declared the president, maintaining that Donald Trump had had every opportunity to defend himself and that he will be able to appeal the decision rendered by a jury composed of “12 citizens”.

“This is how the American system works. And it’s reckless, it’s dangerous and irresponsible for anyone to say it’s rigged, just because they don’t like the verdict. »

Judge Merchan and Michael Cohen targeted again

Donald Trump has confirmed that he will appeal this “fraudulent” verdict rendered following an “unfair” and “rigged” trial, according to him. In the process, he once again questioned the impartiality of Judge Juan Merchan, responsible for pronouncing his sentence, scheduled for July 11, just a few days before the start of the Republican convention in Milwaukee.

“He didn’t allow us to have witnesses, he didn’t allow us to speak, he didn’t allow us to do anything. The judge was a tyrant,” he declared, notably attributing to the judge decisions concerning witnesses which fell to his own lawyers.

Judge Juan Merchan will not only have to decide the sentence to be imposed on Donald Trump, found guilty of 34 counts of first-degree falsification of business documents in connection with the payment of $130,000 to the pornographic actress Stormy Daniels. He will also have to determine whether Donald Trump once again violated the partial gag order he imposed on him and which prohibits him in particular from attacking witnesses.

During his press conference, the Trump Tower host called the prosecution’s star witness Michael Cohen, without naming him, a “scumbag.”

“Everyone knows that,” he said, adding that his former personal lawyer “got into trouble because of outside dealings” in the taxi industry.

He failed to note that Michael Cohen perjured himself as part of the Congressional investigation into the Russia affair in order to protect him and that he pleaded guilty to violating federal campaign finance law for the payment to Stormy Daniels which led to his being convicted at the end of his trial in New York.

Persecution

In fact, it was more of a monologue than a press conference. After speaking to journalists for 33 minutes, Donald Trump took leave of them without answering a single question.

His speech suggests that the theme of his persecution will be at the heart of his presidential campaign. It will be the same for immigration and the economy, two issues that he addressed briefly before branching off towards other subjects, including his indictment in Washington in connection with the 2020 presidential election and the attack on January 6, 2021 against the Capitol.

“If they can do this to me, they can do this to anyone,” he said of his trial in New York.

A spokesperson for Joe Biden’s campaign saw Donald Trump’s speech as proof that he is “confused, hopeless and defeated” following the guilty verdict handed down to him by a jury of his peers .

“Trump is consumed by his own thirst for revenge and retribution,” added Michael Tyler. He thinks this election concerns him. But this is not the case. It’s about Americans: cutting costs, protecting their freedoms, defending their democracy. »

Still, Donald Trump’s supporters showed their anger at the New York verdict by donating a record $34.8 million to his presidential campaign in the hours following the Manhattan jury’s verdict, according to reports. data that has not been independently verified.

Many Republican elected officials have expressed their support for the former president by increasing criticism of the trial and the New York verdict on social networks and in traditional media.

“I think the Supreme Court should step in,” House Speaker Mike Johnson said on Fox News Friday morning. “I think she will set the record straight, but it will take time. »

In the meantime, Matt Walsh, contributor to the conservative site Daily Wire, advised Donald Trump to “draw up and publish a list of 10 high-ranking Democratic criminals that he will have arrested when he takes office” after his possible election.