A new assault on the rule of law was Donald Trump’s first move after his conviction as a criminal, exposing the seriousness of the decision facing American voters.
Convicted on all charges in his first criminal trial, Trump’s conviction upheld a fundamental American principle: that all people are born free and equal, including a billionaire, a former president, and someone who may run for office again.
However, the fact that Trump’s tyrannical tantrum followed the New York guilty decision and that prominent Republicans were in a hurry to join his attack on the legal system shows how seriously these fundamental principles are now taken.
A shameful and biased trial was this. Minutes after a jury foreperson announced his guilty on 34 felony charges of falsifying business records to hide a hush money payment to an adult film star, Trump said, “The real verdict is going to be November 5, by the people. They know what happened here and everybody knows what happened here.” Trump returned to Trump Tower and greeted supporters with a clinched fist. He then released a written statement that made it apparent that, as is typical of totalitarian leaders, he considers his personal fate and the nation’s fate as inseparable. “I’m fighting for my country, and it’s alright; I’m just a simple guy. It is the Constitution that I am fighting for. “Right now, our entire nation is being rigged,” Trump wrote.
The campaign of former president Joe Biden aligns with his opponent’s view that the general election will determine the final verdict on Biden.
Campaign communications director Michael Tyler stated, “The fact that the American people face a simple reality” regardless of today’s ruling. The only way to ensure that Donald Trump does not become president is to cast a ballot. “Whether or not Trump has a criminal record, he will undoubtedly be the Republican candidate for president,” Tyler stated. “Our democracy has never been more threatened by Trump.”
A national tragedy triggered by a private tragedy
A unanimous New York jury found Trump guilty, marking the lowest point in an eventful life of denying responsibility that has included a whirlwind of events: a successful and unsuccessful presidential campaign in 2016; three marriages; fame on television; multiple run-ins with the law; a presidency that broke new ground; and an effort to undermine democracy in order to remain in power after losing the 2020 election.
His flushed face exiting the courtroom suggested that the decision had been a deeply painful experience for him. It will also become a serious national test, given his strong presidential candidacy.
Among four criminal cases connected to the 2024 presidential election, Trump’s trial is the only one that is expected to go to trial before the election, and he pleaded not guilty. The deadline for defense filings in the hush money case is June 27, which happens to be the day of the first presidential debate hosted by AWN. On July 11, Trump will have his sentencing hearing. This is scheduled around the time he has promised to announce his choice for vice president and a few days before he will get the Republican nomination at the convention. His political tactics and legal defenses have already transformed into a story of political persecution, and he has promised to use any second term he may get to exact “retribution” on his enemies.
In an electorate that Trump has persistently driven a wedge between, his fans will undoubtedly celebrate the ruling with glee and his detractors with wrath. However, this is a sad and depressing chapter in American history. An already politically and culturally divided nation is undoubtedly in for a rough ride as it witnesses the first conviction of an ex-president.
The ramifications are immense.
They start by discussing the possible outcomes of an upcoming election in five months, when the outcome could be determined by a small number of votes in a handful of states. In the months leading up to the potential conviction in a case that prosecutors claimed revolved around an attempt to deceive voters in 2016, Trump has been preparing them for the worst. He has stated that Biden is trying to bring him down with his four criminal indictments. The idea that a convicted felon could never hold the office of president is his most fundamental principle, and he has been actively attempting to dismantle it.
The public’s reaction to Trump’s most recent humiliation is completely unpredictable. His supporters will be energized by his conviction, and his campaign will attempt to sway moderate voters in opposition to the verdict. Thursday might go down in history as the day Biden was defeated in the race if their efforts are successful.
The conviction could also lend credence to Biden’s campaign stance that Obama is too radical and corrupt to be president again. Trump risks further alienating the moderate and suburban voters he has already failed to win over.
But millions of Americans will begin to see the legal system as illegitimate, joining the ranks of the electoral system, as a result of Trump’s strategies and his ability to influence his supporters’ opinions — with the help of the conservative media machine.
America will be led by a criminal whose duties include being the symbolic head of the legal system if Trump takes the oath to preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution on January 20 as the 47th president. The threat is serious because Trump has demonstrated in his efforts to remain in office following his 2020 loss that he is willing to sacrifice democratic institutions for his own safety.
Heavy fallout from Trump’s trial decision
According to AWN presidential historian Timothy Naftali, who made the statement on Thursday, every Republican in 2024 will have no choice but to make Trump’s call to war against the legal system the centerpiece of their campaign. In my opinion, that will unleash a deluge of venom much more devastating than the ‘Stop the Steal’ campaign that came before January 6. The already sensitive country will be much more unsettled as a result, according to Naftali. “The ‘Stop the Steal’ campaign cast serious doubt on the integrity of our voting system and gave rise to the belief that fraud had occurred in the 2020 election, which is why it worries me.”
Whether or not Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg should have risked the extraordinary political ramifications of indicting an ex-president for the egregious crime of forging financial records to conceal a hush money payment to adult film star Stormy Daniels in 2016 in order to mislead voters has been an enduring question throughout this trial. Michael Cohen, who had previously worked as a fixer for Trump, was used by prosecutors as a star witness, which was very contentious because Cohen had already been convicted on tax charges and for lying to Congress. The ex-president was unfairly subjected to the trial’s scheduling, according to Trump’s attorney Todd Blanche, who spoke with AWN’s Kaitlan Collins on Thursday.
Contrary to what Trump said, the charges were not fabricated by the prosecution. A grand jury brought them. The ex-president was tried by a jury of his contemporaries, who were all given the benefit of the doubt until proven guilty. Like in all of his prior criminal trials, he will be protected by the Constitution, which he asserts has been hijacked, even now.
But justice is done when the jury has handed down its decision. Republicans’ swift criticism of the judge, the court, and the decision shows a remarkable attempt by one of the country’s two main political groups to undermine the legitimacy of the judicial system.
