Guilty verdict | Trump calls his criminal trial ‘very unfair’

(New York) The day after his historic guilty verdict in New York which plunges the American presidential election into the unknown, Donald Trump castigated a “very unfair” trial from his Manhattan skyscraper.

“We are going to appeal this scam,” said the man who wants to return to the White House after the November presidential election, from his Trump Tower, protesting against an “unjust” decision and a rigged trial, without provide evidence.

In a disjointed speech lasting more than 30 minutes, the billionaire also accused outgoing President Joe Biden and his “gang” of being “sick” and “fascists” responsible for his legal setbacks, after being found guilty Thursday of all the charges against him in this criminal trial, the first of a former American president.

Joe Biden assured Friday that it was “dangerous” and “irresponsible” for Donald Trump to claim that his criminal trial in New York, which saw him found guilty on Thursday, was “rigged”.

“It’s reckless, it’s dangerous, it’s irresponsible for anyone to say that (this trial) was rigged simply because they don’t like the verdict,” the US president said at the White House. as a preamble to a speech on the situation in the Middle East.

“He first questioned our electoral system. Then, he called our judicial system into doubt,” Joe Biden commented earlier on X, sharing a call for donations for his campaign.

Donald Trump appeared “confused, desperate and defeated,” said a Joe Biden campaign spokesperson after this speech.

“Anyone who has watched draws the obvious conclusion: This man cannot be president of the United States,” Michael Tyler said in a statement.

The president, who was with his family on Thursday to mark the anniversary of the death of his eldest son, had not previously reacted to the verdict of his predecessor and adversary.

Donald Trump wasted no time and immediately transformed his verdict into a campaign argument. “I am a political prisoner,” he proclaims in a call for donations published in the wake of the decision.

The latter collected $34.8 million in donations in a few hours, according to his campaign, “almost double the largest day ever recorded” on the platform.

“The real verdict will take place on November 5, by the American people,” Donald Trump also assured Thursday in the corridors of the court.

Abroad, certain leaders have shown their support for Donald Trump, such as the far-right Italian Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini who denounced “judicial harassment” and a “political trial”.

The Kremlin, through its spokesperson Dmitri Peskov, denounced an “elimination of political adversaries” in the United States.

Traveling to Prague, the head of American diplomacy Antony Blinken assured that these accusations from Moscow were only a “reflection” of Russia’s own behavior in this matter.

Historical

If Donald Trump’s guilty verdict is historic, it does not prevent him from competing in the presidential election, and its impact on the vote remains difficult to predict.

So far, the polls show Joe Biden neck and neck with Donald Trump, or even the Democrat trailing behind in certain strategic states.

And this verdict “is probably not going to move many votes,” predicts Keith Gaddie, political scientist at TCU University in Texas. But for votes “particularly close, this could swing things from one side to the other”.

The fact remains that Donald Trump has proven, in recent years, his resistance to the ordeals that would have destroyed the political careers of many: indicted twice before Congress and indicted in four criminal cases, including that of New York, he However, he was widely and quickly established during the primaries as the Republican candidate for the November election.

And the Stormy Daniels case, which was considered the least threatening for him, will most likely be the only one judged before the vote.

Deprived of a campaign on the ground to attend the hearings, Donald Trump still tried to take advantage of the media by speaking several times a day outside the courtroom, flanked by his children or elected officials. Republicans came to support him.

But this judicial sequence could also benefit Joe Biden, who intends to strengthen his image as a serious leader, busy with the highest affairs of the State while his rival continues the legal meetings.

The president must therefore speak on Friday afternoon on the situation in the Middle East.

And Donald Trump’s sentencing will fall on July 11, coinciding with a NATO summit in Washington, an opportunity for Joe Biden to mark the contrast with his rival.