Republicans raged against the Manhattan jury finding former president Donald Trump guilty on all counts in the hush money case.
Trump became the first criminally convicted former US president when it found him guilty on all 34 counts of falsifying business records as part of a conspiracy to corruptly influence the 2016 presidential election results.
Trump’s son Donald Trump Jr put it succinctly in a series of posts on X.
“Such bulls***,” the younger Trump said. The younger Mr Trump’s anger came after he and his father shared a video of themselves inside the Manhattan court house joking about writing mean tweets.
“Guilty on all counts,” he said. “The Democrats have succeeded in their years long attempt to turn America into a third-world shithole. November 5 is our last chance to save it.”
Senator Rick Scott of Florida, who had traveled to New York to show support for Trump during his trial, also criticised the verdict.
“This was a sham trial and the clearest example we’ve ever seen of election interference,” he said on X. “I am furious and no American is safe from Democrat political persecution.”
Former New York City Rudy Giuliani, who served as Trump’s lawyer, also decried the ruling, trashing the city he led for eight years.
“This city has been politically corrupt for most of the past 150 years,” he said. “You knew on day one Trump was going to be convicted.”
House Speaker Mike Johnson, who had visited the court earlier this month in support of Trump, also denounced the verdict in a statement.
“Today is a shameful day in American history,” he said. “Democrats cheered as they convicted the leader of the opposing party on ridiculous charges, predicated on the testimony of a disbarred, convicted felon. This was a purely political exercise, not a legal one.”
Arizona Republican senate candidate Kari Lake also denounced the ruling, saying that the case was politically motivated.
“We just witnessed the most egregious example of election interference and an outright mockery of the rule of law in the 246-year history of our Republic,” she said in a statement. “This entire process right down to the verdict itself has been nothing but a shameful political stunt.”
Representative Matt Gaetz, the hard-right Republican from Florida, said the ruling was corrupt.
“This verdict is the corrupt result of a corrupt trial, a corrupt judge, and a corrupt DA,” he said. “We will stand with President Trump now more than ever to save the country.”
Representative Nancy Mace, the South Carolina Republican who had previously criticised Trump before she endorsed him, said the verdict was an example of government weaponization.
“This is a VERY dark day for American democracy when the law is weaponized against its own citizens,” she said.
Matt Schlapp, the head of the American Conservative Union, also criticised the verdict.
“Today is a tragic day in American history,” he said. “From the outset, the mission of the radical Left been clear: prevent President Donald J. Trump from running for president by any means necessary. After failed impeachment attempts, the left has finally succeeded, but in a different way than they intended. Instead of diminishing the leading candidate for President, they have instead undermined the rule of law and our republic.”
Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene, who had gone up to New York City when Trump was first indicted last year, called the verdict a result of a “SHAM trial.”
“What do they do now that President Trump is leading in the polls, and their stunt is failing,” she said. “You don’t see this level of corruption in a banana republic, but it’s happening in our own backyard. There is NOTHING they fear more than another Trump Presidency.”
Senator Josh Hawley, who led the charge to overturn the 2020 presidential electon results, blamed President Joe Biden and said he tried to criminalize his strongest political opponent.
“Congrats, Joe Biden. You’re the worst president ever,” he said.
