Former President Donald J. Trump was convicted of 34 felony counts of falsified business records on Thursday in a New York criminal trial.
After about a day-and-a-half of deliberating, 12 jurors unanimously agreed that Trump falsified business records to conceal a hush money payment to adult film star Stormy Daniels to influence the outcome of the 2016 election. It marks the first time that a former or sitting U.S. president has been convicted of a felony.
"The Democrats know they can't beat President Trump at the polls so they weaponize our government against him..."NC Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson
New York Judge Juan Merchan set sentencing for July 11. That's just four days before the start of the Republican National Convention, where Trump is expected to officially be named the GOP nominee for president in the 2024 election, setting up a rematch of the 2020 election against current president Joe Biden.
Trump called the trial "rigged" and "disgraceful," and many of his supporters — including North Carolina politicians — agree with him.
"The Democrats know they can't beat President Trump at the polls so they weaponize our government against him," said Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson, the Republican nominee in North Carolina's governor's race. "The voters should decide this election and I believe we will reject this sham trial by putting President Donald Trump back in office this November."
Trump endorsed Robinson in the governor's race ahead of the primary back in March, and called the 55-year-old "Martin Luther King on steroids."
Sen. Thom Tillis said he was "shocked" by the verdict.
I am shocked by the verdict considering that this case should have never been brought forward. From the beginning, it was clear that a radical, politically-motivated state prosecutor was using the full weight of his office to go after President Trump at the same time he turned a…
— Senator Thom Tillis (@SenThomTillis) May 30, 2024
Tim Moore, the North Carolina House Speaker who is seeking a Congressional seat in this election cycle, said the verdict was "an affront to justice and to our country as we know it." Michael Whatley, co-chairman of the Republican National Committee and former NC chair, called Merchan "partisan" and "biased," and said the verdict was "an indictment on the Democrats' campaign to weaponize the judicial system to attack President Trump."
Former North Carolina Gov. Pat McCrory told WRAL he was "sad for our country because it further exposes the divisions that we have in our country."
Here's how other notable Republicans around the state reacted:
Today’s verdict is a total disgrace. pic.twitter.com/rHqY1vas0K
— Sen. Ted Budd (@SenTedBuddNC) May 30, 2024
A travesty.
— Rep. Dan Bishop (@RepDanBishop) May 30, 2024
A rigged trial designed for one outcome: to "Get Trump."
Leftists would rather shred the Constitution and destroy the rule of law than face Trump in a fair fight.
Americans see through the farce.
The American people will see today for exactly what it is, the left weaponizing our legal system against President Trump.
— Republican State Leadership Committee (@RSLC) May 31, 2024
Joe Biden and Democrats can’t win on policy. They have no answer for how to lower costs for working families or how to stop the border crisis that is…
