Political figures react to Trump becoming a convicted felon

For the first time in history, a former U.S. president has become a convicted felon — 34 times over. As expected, his most outspoken supporters in Washington, D.C. didn’t take the news well.

After the reading of Thursday’s verdict, bombastic Colorado congresswoman Lauren Boebert took just minutes to express her outrage on social media.

“As we all knew, this was ALWAYS about election interference and stopping President Trump from winning his rightful re-election to the White House,” the right-wing firebrand posted on X. “We stand with PRESIDENT DONALD J. TRUMP!”

An hour before the verdict was read, Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene — a conspiracy theorist and election denier — wrote that Trump’s trial was unfair.

“This case has been rigged from the start and we all knew it,” she said. “This isn’t a prosecution, it’s a persecution.”

She later followed that post with an image of an upside-down U.S. flag — a symbol of Trump supporters’ “Stop the Steal” movement.

Trump emerged from the courthouse after being convicted to say he was a “very innocent man” who was the victim of a “rigged trial by a conflicted judge who is corrupt.”

But there’s no evidence to refute the legitimacy of the seven-week trial that ended with the former president becoming a convicted criminal.

“This verdict is the corrupt result of a corrupt trial, a corrupt judge, and a corrupt DA,” Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz raged on X. “We will stand with President Trump now more than ever to save the country.”

Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson called Thursday a “shameful day in American history.”

“Democrats cheered as they convicted the leader of the opposing party on ridiculous charges, predicated on the testimony of a disbarred, convicted felon,” he said, referring to former Trump lawyer and prosecution witness Michael Cohen. “This was a purely political exercise, not a legal one.”

Democrats meanwhile celebrated Trump’s conviction as a win for the rule of law.

New York’s 12th District Rep. Jerry Nadler — who, as House Judiciary Committee chairman, led both of Trump’s impeachments — said justice had been done on Thursday.

“Former President Trump’s relentless attempts to subvert the justice system and undermine the rule of law were unable to overcome the overwhelming, damning evidence presented by District Attorney Alvin Bragg,” he wrote in a statement. “I couldn’t be more proud to be a New Yorker now that Manhattan has led the way in convicting him as a felon.”

Gov. Kathy Hochul said Thursday’s verdict “reaffirms that no one is above the law,” while assuring New Yorkers her administration has been working with local and federal law enforcement to make sure the city remains safe while emotions run high.

Across the country, outspoken California Rep. Eric Swalwell wrote that verdict “is not a win for any single person. It’s a win for an idea. The idea that we all follow the same rules.”

His Golden State colleague Adam Schiff echoed those sentiments along with a laundry list of other court rulings that have gone against Trump.

“First, a court found Donald Trump to be a sexual abuser,” the liberal lawmaker wrote on Facebook, referring to an NYC jury last year finding Trump liable for sexually abusing writer E. Jean Carroll.

“He was then found to be a fraudulent business owner,” Schiff continued. “Now Donald J. Trump is a convicted felon. All are an affirmation of the rule of law. And Trump’s unfitness for office.”

President Joe Biden used his likely opponent’s bad fortune as a campaign opportunity.

“In New York today, we saw that no one is above the law,” read a statement from the campaign’s communication director. “But today’s verdict does not change the fact that the American people face a simple reality. There’s only one way to keep Donald Trump out of the Oval Office: At the ballot box.”

A Manhattan jury found Trump guilty on dozens of counts of falsifying business records to cover up a hush-money payment to porn star Stormy Daniels in a plot to silence claims of an affair that could have harmed his presidential campaign.

Trump’s punishment will be doled out at a July 11 sentencing hearing. He’s expected to appeal the verdict.

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