Trump Conviction Marks a Somber and Turbulent Chapter in American History

[CharlieH]

 

Donald Trump’s first act upon becoming a convicted criminal was to launch a fierce new attack on the rule of law, highlighting the significance of the choice awaiting America's voters.

 

In one sense, Trump’s conviction on all counts in his first criminal trial affirmed the foundational principle of the United States—that everyone is equal and that no one, not even a billionaire and former or potential future president, enjoys impunity.

 

However, Trump’s authoritarian outburst minutes after the guilty verdict in New York, coupled with a rush by top Republicans to join his assault on the justice system, underscores how threatened those bedrock values now are, as reported by CNN.

 

“This was a rigged, disgraceful trial. The real verdict is going to be November 5, by the people, and they know what happened here and everybody knows what happened here,” Trump said minutes after a jury foreperson announced he was guilty on 34 felony charges of falsifying business records to conceal a hush money payment to an adult film star. After returning to Trump Tower and greeting supporters with a clenched fist, Trump issued a written statement that underscored how he views his own fate as inseparable from the nation’s—a hallmark of authoritarian leadership. “I’m a very innocent man, and it’s okay. I’m fighting for our country. I’m fighting for our Constitution. Our whole country is being rigged right now,” Trump wrote.

 

President Joe Biden’s campaign echoed the sentiment that the ultimate judgment on the former president will come during the general election.

 

“Today’s verdict does not change the fact that the American people face a simple reality,” said campaign communications director Michael Tyler. “There is still only one way to keep Donald Trump out of the Oval Office: at the ballot box. Convicted felon or not, Trump will be the Republican nominee for president,” Tyler stated. “The threat Trump poses to our democracy has never been greater.”

 

A Moment of Personal Anguish with National Consequences

 

Trump’s conviction by a unanimous New York jury represents the most painful low in a tumultuous life marked by an evasion of accountability, financial ups and downs, three marriages, television stardom, frequent brushes with the law, the triumph of his outsider 2016 election win, a norm-shattering presidency, and an attempt to undermine democracy to stay in power after losing in 2020.

 

 Judging by his red-faced shock outside the courtroom, the verdict was a moment of personal anguish. Given that he’s got a good chance of being the next president, it is sure to become a grave national test as well.

 

Trump had pleaded not guilty in a trial that is one of four criminal cases entangled with the 2024 presidential election and the only one likely to see a jury before the election. Responses to any motions from the defense in the hush money case are due by June 27 — the day of the first presidential debate, hosted by CNN. Trump’s sentencing hearing is set for July 11, just days before he’ll secure the nomination at the Republican National Convention and around when he’s said he’d announce his vice presidential pick. Already, his legal defenses have morphed with his political strategy in a narrative of political persecution, and he is vowing that he will devote a possible second term to “retribution” against his foes.

 

Among an electorate that Trump has constantly polarized, the verdict is likely to be greeted with fury by his supporters and jubilation by his critics. But in truth, this is a somber and even tragic passage of US history. Americans have never seen an ex-president convicted of a crime, and a country already torn apart by bitter political and cultural polarization is likely in for a rocky time.

 

The implications are enormous.

 

They begin with the potential consequences for an election in five months that could be decided by the shift of just a few thousand votes in a few states. Trump has been preparing voters for months for the possibility that he would be found guilty in a case that prosecutors said centered around a bid to mislead voters in 2016. He’s claimed his four criminal indictments are a plot by Biden to destroy him. In essence, he’s been working to shatter his greatest norm yet — the idea that it would be unthinkable for a felon to serve as president.

Trump had pleaded not guilty in a trial that is one of four criminal cases intertwined with the 2024 presidential election, and the only one likely to see a jury before the election. Responses to any motions from the defense in the hush money case are due by June 27 — the day of the first presidential debate, hosted by CNN. Trump’s sentencing hearing is set for July 11, just days before he’s expected to secure the nomination at the Republican National Convention and around the time he has indicated he would announce his vice presidential pick. Already, his legal defenses have merged with his political strategy, framing a narrative of political persecution. He is vowing that he will devote a potential second term to “retribution” against his foes.

 

Among an electorate that Trump has continually polarized, the verdict is likely to elicit fury from his supporters and jubilation from his critics. In truth, this is a somber and even tragic passage in U.S. history. Americans have never seen an ex-president convicted of a crime, and a nation already torn apart by severe political and cultural polarization is likely in for a turbulent time.

 

as reported by CNN

 

2024-06-01

 

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