Former President Donald Trump adopted a defiant stance in a speech delivered just a day after his historic felony conviction on Friday, characterizing himself as “honored” to be the defendant in what he perceives as a politically motivated attack.
A Manhattan jury on Thursday found Trump guilty on 34 counts of falsifying business records to conceal a s*xual encounter with p*rn actress Stormy Daniels, marking the first instance of a former U.S. president being convicted of a crime.
“I’m honored in a way,” he said during a press conference inside Trump Tower.
“It’s not that it’s pleasant. It’s very bad for family, it’s very bad for friends and businesses. But I’m honored to be involved in it because somebody has to do it. And I might as well keep going and be the one,” he added.
Trump boasted of his reelection campaign’s fundraising success, claiming to have raised $39 million within approximately 10 hours of his conviction. Earlier, his campaign had announced raising around $34.8 million from small-dollar donors following the verdict, causing the campaign’s donation page to crash due to high traffic.
During his remarks, Trump attributed the gag order in the hush money case to President Joe Biden and the Department of Justice, alleging their collaboration with the court. Transitioning back to campaign rhetoric after his courtroom ordeal, Trump launched into criticism of President Biden, labeling him as corrupt and incompetent.
“The worst president in the history of our country,” Trump asserted of his 2024 presidential election opponent, blasting Biden’s leadership.
Trump is expected to appeal the case, though any legal move will have to wait after his sentencing on July 11, just four days before the Republican National Convention.
Legal experts anticipate the appeals process to extend for a year or more through the New York state and federal judicial systems, according to the Associated Press.
While Trump faces a potential sentence of up to four years in prison, legal analysts anticipate a more lenient outcome, citing his status as a first-time, non-violent offender, with probation being the more probable sentencing outcome.
Many legal experts believe the former president’s guilty outcome will ultimately be repealed.
“I believe that the case will be reversed eventually either in the state or federal systems,” Jonathan Turley, constitutional law attorney and Fox News contributor, said Thursday. “However, this was the worst expectation for a trial in Manhattan. I had hoped that the jurors might redeem the integrity of a system that has been used for political purposes.
“The trial is a target rich environment for appeal. However, that appeal will stretch beyond the election. In the meantime, Democrats and President Biden can add ‘convicted felon’ to the political mantra,” he added.
House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) also called for the Supreme Court to intervene in Trump’s case.
“This is totally unprecedented, and it’s dangerous to our system. We’ve all discussed this before and y’all talk about it all the time. This is diminishing the American people’s faith in our system of justice itself,” he said during a Friday interview.
