On Politics: The dark rhetoric after Trump’s conviction

The former president sought to weaponize the verdict to undermine trust in the justice system.

View in browser|nytimes.com May 30, 2024 Former President Donald Trump was pronounced guilty on Thursday of 34 felony counts of falsifying business records. Pool photo by Seth Wenig The dark rhetoric after Trump's conviction By Jess Bidgood On Thursday afternoon, in a New York courtroom, Donald Trump wore a glum look on his face as a jury pronounced him guilty of 34 felony counts of falsifying business records, sitting slack as he became the first former president to ever be convicted of a crime. Then he marched up to the cameras in the hallway to claim, falsely, that it was all a setup. "Our whole country is being rigged right now," Trump said. "This is being done by the Biden administration in order to wound or hurt a political opponent." That isn't true. Trump's trial in New York is a local matter that was brought by District Attorney Alvin Bragg, and it has nothing to do with President Biden or his administration. But that didn't stop Trump and his allies from trying immediately to weaponize it — to wield it in his long effort to undermine trust in the courts, the justice system, and perhaps in the 2024 election itself. Trump was convicted of falsifying business records as part of a scheme to cover up a sex scandal that threatened to erupt while he was running for president in 2016. Prosecutors said it was an unlawful effort to influence that election, and Trump has tried to turn that accusation on its head. For months, he has been deliberate, repetitive and disciplined in the words he uses to talk about the trial. He calls it the "Biden trial." He calls it "election interference," as he did earlier Thursday on his social media website. He calls it a "witch hunt." On Thursday, his allies quickly joined the chorus. Kari Lake, the Arizona Senate candidate, described the verdict as "the most egregious example of election interference and an outright mockery of the rule of law in the 246-year history of our Republic." The Republican speaker of the House, Mike Johnson, called the trial a "purely political exercise, not a legal one," and accused the Biden administration of participating in "the weaponization of our justice system." Trump's statement immediately after the verdict showed that he will use it to try to erode faith in the system that convicted him. That's likely to worry Republicans and Democrats alike who are concerned about the future of American democracy, which relies on public trust. "This was a conviction by a jury of Americans who listened to the evidence and made their decision," said Rachel Kleinfeld, a senior fellow in the Democracy, Conflict, and Governance Program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. "When you undermine courts the way that elections have already been undermined, there is no peaceful way to settle differences." For Trump and his campaign, the party line is grievance, anger and a call for revenge. And one Republican who strayed from it was immediately subject to criticism from one of Trump's closest aides. "Regardless of the result, I urge all Americans to respect the verdict and the legal process," former Gov. Larry Hogan of Maryland, a Republican running for Senate, posted on X shortly before the verdict was announced. "You just ended your campaign," Chris LaCivita, a senior adviser to Trump, shot back at Hogan in his own post. Even a vanilla statement about trusting the verdict and the process, it seemed, was too much for Trump's team. REPORTER'S NOTEBOOK What it was like inside the courtroom My colleagues Maggie Haberman and Jonah Bromwich have been inside Courtroom 1530 for much of the past eight weeks. It's a plain space with harsh bright lights. And they were there as Trump learned he had been convicted. I asked Maggie what that moment was like. "Intense," she said. "Like time stopped." Jonah described the scene this way. It happened very quickly. The jury filed into the courtroom and climbed into the jury box. The jurors confirmed that they had reached a verdict. And then the foreman, who had sat silent all trial until today, stood up, took a microphone and was asked what he and 11 other New Yorkers had determined about the first criminal charge against Donald J. Trump. "Guilty," the foreman said. The former president shut his eyes, then slowly shook his head. Read more here. Demonstrators outside the Manhattan courthouse where Trump was convicted on Thursday. Adam Gray for The New York Times What to read about Trump's conviction Before Trump left the courthouse, Judge Juan Merchan set a date for his sentencing: July 11, four days before the beginning of the Republican National Convention, where he is set to accept the nomination to be his party's candidate for president. It's an extraordinary twist in an extraordinary campaign. Here's what to know so far. Donald Trump, convicted on all counts, is now America's first felon ex-president. His run of good luck in the four criminal trials he faces appears to have run out. Republicans are assailing the 'guilty' verdict, seemingly trying to one-up each other in their displays of loyalty to the former president. The Biden campaign fund-raised off the verdict, saying the only way to keep Trump from the Oval Office was at the ballot box. White House officials said little. Voters are reacting to the verdict with joy, embarrassment and big shrugs. If Trump goes to prison, the Secret Service will, too. The 34 counts against Trump fell into three categories. Here's a complete list of each count. Trump's criminal conviction doesn't bar him from running for president. MORE POLITICS NEWS AND ANALYSIS Maddie McGarvey for The New York Times How Republicans in Key Senate Races Are Flip-Flopping on Abortion Several G.O.P. Senate candidates used to embrace anti-abortion views. Now they are shifting their positions on an issue that has become an electoral liability for their party. By Jess Bidgood and Lisa Lerer Erin Schaff/The New York Times Chief Justice Rejects Call for Alito's Recusal in Jan. 6 Cases After Flag Incidents In a letter to Democratic senators, Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. said that individual justices decide when to recuse. He declined to meet with the senators to discuss court ethics. By Abbie VanSickle Yuri Gripas for The New York Times political memo A 'Laundry List' or a 'Feel': Biden and Trump's Clashing Appeals to Black Voters President Biden and former President Donald J. Trump both see Black outreach as critical to winning in November. But their approaches differ in fundamental and revealing ways. By Shane Goldmacher Kent Nishimura for The New York Times Departing House Members Ask: 'Why Am I Here?' A wave of retirees from both parties, including committee chairs and rising stars, say that serving in Congress is no longer worth the frustration. By Robert Draper The New York Times Tracking Biden and Trump on the Campaign Trail President Biden and former President Donald J. Trump's rematch is testing their ability to make the traditional appearances on the trail that voters have come to expect. By The New York Times Read past editions of the newsletter here. If you're enjoying what you're reading, please consider recommending it to others. 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