NEW YORK — Being convicted of one crime – let alone 34 of them – is the kind of blow that would normally destroy any politician’s ambitions.
Instead, Donald Trump will try to turn what could otherwise be a career-ending trial into campaign fuel.
Trump will return to the campaign trail on Friday with a news conference at his eponymous Manhattan tower, a day after he was convicted of trying to illegally influence the 2016 election through a secret payment to a porn star who claimed they made sex. His lawyers and allies described him as defiant and ready to fight a verdict they consider illegitimate and motivated by politics.
No former president or presumptive party nominee has ever faced a felony conviction or the prospect of prison time, and Trump is expected to keep his legal troubles at the center of his campaign. He has long argued, without evidence, that the four charges against him were orchestrated by Democratic President Joe Biden to try to keep him out of the White House.
“There is no one more defiant,” Trump spokesman Jason Miller said on Fox News, hours after the verdict was read. “He’s ready to go out and start fighting again.”
Trump and his campaign had been preparing for a guilty verdict for days, even as they held out hope for a hung jury. On Tuesday, Trump criticized that not even Mother Teresa, the nun and saint, was able to overcome the charges, which he repeatedly labeled as “rigged.”
His top aides released a memo on Wednesday in which they insisted that a verdict would have no impact on the election regardless of whether Trump is convicted or acquitted.
Still, the news came as a shock. Trump, his team and reporters in the courtroom were under the impression that the jury on Thursday would end the day’s deliberations at 4:30 p.m. Trump sat smiling and chatting with his lawyers as the proceedings appeared to be drawing to a close.
Trump spent the hours before the verdict was announced isolated in the private courtroom, where he spent breaks during the trial, huddled with his lawyers and campaign aides, eating a rotating menu of McDonald’s lunches, pizza and sandwiches.
As the jury decided his fate, he occupied his time by making phone calls, sending social media messages and chatting with friends, including developer Steve Witkoff, who joined him in court, and North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum, who is considered a vice president. presidential candidate.
In a sign that they expected deliberations to continue, Trump’s detention room was equipped with a television on Thursday, according to two people familiar with the facility who, like others, spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the case.
Instead, Merchan announced that a verdict had been reached. Thirty minutes later, Trump heard the jury deliver a guilty verdict on all counts. Trump sat stone-faced as the verdict was read.
His campaign generated a flood of fundraising appeals and GOP allies rallied to his side. One text message called him a “political prisoner,” although he has not yet found out if he will be sentenced to prison. The campaign also began selling black “Make America Great Again” hats to reflect a “dark day in history.”
Aides reported an immediate wave of contributions so intense that WinRed, the platform the campaign uses for fundraising, crashed.
Trump campaign spokesman Brian Hughes cited the rally as a sign “that Americans saw this sham trial as the political interference in the election that Biden and Democrats always intended.”
“November 5th,” he said, echoing Trump, “is the day the Americans deliver the true verdict!”
Trump has long complained that the trial limited his campaign appearances for several weeks. “I want to campaign,” he told reporters on Thursday morning, before the verdict was reached.
It’s unclear, however, how much Trump’s agenda will increase in the coming days. He held only a few public campaign events as the trial unfolded, despite having Wednesdays, as well as evenings and weekends, to do as he pleased.
Over the next two months, he will have his first debate with Biden, announce a running mate and formally accept his party’s nomination at the Republican National Convention.
But before heading to Milwaukee for the RNC, Trump will have to return to court on July 11 to be sentenced. He could face penalties ranging from a fine or probation to four years in prison.
This story originally appeared on ABCNews.go.com read the full story
