A New York jury on Thursday convicted Trump of all 34 criminal charges.
Washington:
Donald Trump has suggested that sending him to prison could be a “breaking point” for his supporters – a warning that will fuel concerns of political violence around the US presidential election on November 5.
In an interview broadcast on Sunday by Fox News, the former president and current Republican candidate for the White House acknowledged the possibility of a prison sentence or house arrest following his historic criminal conviction in a secret trial.
“I’m fine with it,” Trump said, but added that he was “not sure the public would accept it.”
“I think it would be difficult for the public to accept. You know at a certain point there is a breaking point,” he said.
The warning will resonate in a country already worried about the prospect of civil unrest and political harassment in the run-up to the November elections.
Trump will now run as a criminal and has repeatedly refused to commit to accepting the result if he lost to President Joe Biden.
A New York jury on Thursday convicted Trump of all 34 criminal counts of falsifying business records late in the 2016 presidential campaign to cover up a sex scandal involving adult film star Stormy Daniels.
It was the first criminal conviction of a former president in US history, and sentencing was scheduled for July 11 – days before the Republican National Convention that will formally anoint Trump as the party’s presidential nominee.
“They are turning Donald Trump into a martyr,” Trump’s son Eric told Fox News.
Although each charge carries a possible four-year prison sentence, experts say it is extremely unlikely the judge will hand down a prison sentence.
However, Trump himself joined the strong call from fellow Republicans, including House Speaker Mike Johnson, for the US Supreme Court to somehow intervene on the former president’s behalf.
“Will a “HIGHLY CONFLICTED, Democrat-appointed Local Judge make a decision that will determine the future of our Nation?” Trump said on his Truth Social media platform. “The United States Supreme Court MUST DECIDE!”
Trump said his legal team will appeal the silence verdict. Because this is a New York case, it would have to go through the state appeals courts before reaching the U.S. Supreme Court.
Trump faces three other criminal trials, including one related to efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election he lost to Biden.
Supporters of the 77-year-old stormed the US Capitol on January 6, 2021, after he gave a fiery speech urging the crowd to “fight like hell.”
Democratic Congressman Adam Schiff, a member of the House of Representatives committee that investigated the attack on the Capitol, said Trump’s strategy was clear.
“This is essentially his threat that if he is arrested, he will encourage his supporters to revolt,” Schiff said on CNN’s “State of the Union.”
“And we saw the deadly results of that on January 6.”
‘Vindicated’
Breaking her silence following Trump’s conviction, Stormy Daniels told British media that the former president should be jailed.
The former adult film star helped take down Trump in court with her emotional testimony, which included graphic descriptions of what she says was a casual sexual encounter in 2006.
Trump continued to deny the sexual encounter, which prosecutors at his trial said occurred shortly after his wife, Melania, gave birth.
In his Fox interview, Trump said the trial affected his wife, who was absent from the courtroom, unlike other close family members.
“She’s fine, but I think it’s very difficult for her,” Trump said. “She has to read all this crap.”
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