NEW YORK — Being convicted of a crime – let alone 34 of them – is the kind of blow that would normally undermine any politician’s ambitions.
Donald Trump will instead try to turn what could otherwise be a judgment on his career into campaign fuel.
Trump returns to the campaign trail on Friday with a news conference at his namesake tower in Manhattan, a day after he was convicted of illegally influencing the 2016 election through a hush-money payment to a porn actor who claimed to have had sex. His lawyers and allies describe him as defiant and willing to challenge a verdict they say is unlawful 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 front and center in his campaign. He has long argued without evidence that the four charges against him were orchestrated by Democratic President Joe Biden in an effort to keep him out of the White House.
“There is no one more challenging,” Trump spokesman Jason Miller said on Fox News, hours after the verdict was read. “He’s ready to go out and fight again.”
Trump and his campaign had been preparing for days for a guilty verdict, even as they harbored hopes of a hung jury. On Tuesday, Trump denounced that even Mother Teresa, the nun and saint, could not refute the charges, which he repeatedly labeled “rigged.”
His top aides released a memo on Wednesday insisting that a verdict would have no impact on the election, whether Trump was convicted or acquitted.
Still, the news came as a shock. Trump, his team and reporters at the courthouse had been under the impression that the jury would conclude deliberations for the day on Thursday at 4:30 p.m. Trump was smiling and chatting with his lawyers as the proceedings appeared to be coming to an end.
Trump had spent the hours before the verdict was handed down in the private courtroom where he had spent recess during the trial, huddled with his lawyers and campaign aides as he ate from a rotating lunch menu of McDonald’s, pizza and sandwiches.
As the jury decided his fate, he filled his time talking on the phone, firing off social media messages and chatting with friends, including developer Steve Witkoff, who joined him in the courtroom, and North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum, who is considered a top vice. presidential contender.
In a sign that they expected the deliberations to continue, Trump’s waiting room was outfitted with a television on Thursday, according to two people familiar with the setup who, like others, spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the matter.
Instead, Merchan announced that a verdict had been reached. Thirty minutes later, Trump listened as the jury returned guilty verdicts on every count. Trump sat stone-faced as the verdict was read.
His campaign prompted a flurry of fundraising appeals, and Republican allies rallied behind him. One text message referred to him as a “political prisoner,” even though he does not yet know whether he will be sentenced to prison. The campaign also began selling black “Make America Great Again” hats to reflect a “dark day in history.”
Aid workers reported an immediate flood of contributions so intense that WinRed, the platform the campaign uses for fundraising, crashed.
Trump campaign spokesman Brian Hughes called the outbreak a sign “that Americans have viewed this sham trial as the political election interference that Biden and the Democrats always intended.”
“November 5,” he said, echoing Trump, “is the day the Americans will deliver the real verdict!”
Trump has long complained that the lawsuit limited his campaign appearances for several weeks. “I want to campaign,” he had told reporters on Thursday morning before a verdict was handed down.
However, it is unclear how much Trump’s schedule will expand in the coming days. He hosted only a handful of public campaign events during the trial, despite having Wednesdays, as well as evenings and weekends, to do what he wanted.
Over the next two months, he will hold his first debate with Biden, announce a running mate and formally accept his party’s nomination at the Republican National Convention.
But before he heads to Milwaukee for the RNC, Trump will have to return to court again on July 11 for sentencing. He could face penalties ranging from a fine or probation to four years in prison.