As dawn broke over America on Friday, the silhouette of the Trump Tower in New York became a point of focus once again. Seizing the opportunity to share his thoughts openly on the recent guilty verdict he had received for his ‘hush money’ trial in Manhattan, Donald Trump, the 45th President of the United States, sprang back into action. April 15th was the last instance he had been in a position to express himself thus, before this latest turn of events.
Abandoning the teleprompter, Trump was no longer obliged to toe the line his advisers had drawn for him, whilst simultaneously disregarding the silencing order imposed on him by Judge Merchan. His name once more took centre stage in New York’s leading morning papers, and his tower acted as a colossal beacon, attracting television vans, cameras and a barrage of media coverage.
The towering monument lent Trump an air of an unorthodox platform from where he first announced his presidential candidacy in 2015. A great water under the bridge has flowed since that day.
The media eye remained trained on the escalator Trump had previously triumphantly descended, as he walked past it again for a half-hour long discourse which was characterized by freeform thoughts covering a range of topics. This included his perception on the specifics of the criminal case, and seguing into topics dear to his campaign rallies: immigration, borders, the economy.
It emerged that this impromptu address was a raw and unscripted version of what would soon form the backbone of his summer campaign: presenting himself as the last bastion of democracy and the champion of the people in their fight against the supposed machinations of the Democratic Party.
“Fascism is the current state of our nation,” came his proclamation, as he referred to his political opposer, Joe Biden, as, “the most intellectually challenged president, he’s a Manchurian candidate”, and labelled the judge presiding over his case as a ‘despot’. “My trial is unlike anything anyone has ever witnessed,” he claimed.
The speaker was critical of Manhattan’s district attorney, Alvin Bragg, whom he targeted for the indictment about the undisclosed payment case against him. He pointed out brutal crimes in New York, including an incident where a man attacked others with a machete at a McDonald’s restaurant. He criticised Bragg for focusing on his trial for alleged ‘falsification of business records’, which he considers a minor yet distasteful offence, one he had not been accused of previously.
His talk, while publicised as a press conference, allowed for no questions. He audaciously criticised the ongoing trial and yet-to-deliver-sentence judge. The verdict’s immediate effect was to galvanise his supporters on a national level. He disclosed that his campaign received €36m ($39m) within 10 hours of the jury’s unanimous conviction of all 34 charges. His popularity had spiked with a 3,200% increase in Google searches for his name overnight.
He portrayed his opponents as misguided, perhaps mentally unwell, individuals. He warned of alarming conditions in the country, invoking images of immigrants occupying playing fields and luxury hotels while veterans lived in destitution. He claimed migrants were enjoying privileges in cities managed by Democrats, while implying an unequal treatment of veterans. He deemed his cause a distressing yet highly honourable endeavour. He underscored the significance of the 5th of November, the election day.
Fact-checkers scrambled to dissect his words, likely concurring that his last statement was beyond dispute. Republicans had united in their belief that the conviction was the anticipated outcome of a trial orchestrated from the onset to target him, as Byron Donalds, a Republican representative from Florida, expressed on Friday morning.
Alvin Bragg made his intentions clear during his political campaign – his aim was to bring Donald Trump to task, not because there was a distinct crime to investigate but for purported fairness, according to CNN. The prosecution team was specially assembled for Trump’s case with their primary purpose being to delve into his affairs.
President Joe Biden responded to the previous president’s address in New York the next day during lunch. His rebuttal was essentially about upholding America’s long-standing principle of the rule of law – that nobody is beyond legal scrutiny. He emphasised that Donald Trump was accorded every chance to present his defence. “The case was state-based rather than federal, and it was presided over by a jury consisting of 12 average American citizens,” as he explained to White House reporters.
Biden went on to affirm that Trump had the right to challenge the result, as per the workings of American justice. He decried the labelling of the trial as ‘rigged’ based solely on dissatisfaction with the outcome as not just reckless, irresponsible, and dangerous, but also an assault on the justice system that has stood for almost 250 years and is fundamental to America’s identity.
Despite these arguments, it’s clear that this outcome has provided another potent weapon for the Trump campaign, a weapon that their Democrat rivals seem to lack – an observation backed by concerning poll results for Democrat strategists. The swift decision by the jury, reached after just two days of deliberations, sets Trump free to jump back into the campaigning fray, prepping for a scheduled debate against Biden on CNN on June 27th.
Thus, concludes one of the most extraordinary and influential legal battles in the history of the United States. The justice system in lower Manhattan will resume its routine task of meting out justice to the average citizen. However, will the members of the jury at the heart of Trump’s trial choose anonymity in order to avoid the potential backlash of their decision to find Trump guilty? They can choose to discuss the trial publicly if they wish, but it remains likely that they will choose to stay out of the limelight.
The expectation on Friday was that media networks would have started proposing offers to the twelve jurors and six substitutes to share their experiences. If their anonymity is compromised and they encounter threats, they can notify it to the New York’s law enforcement officers who will forward the details to a threat-evaluation squad. Protective measures will be implemented if it’s judged that they need safeguarding. The burden of this jury service has been significantly hard on them.
The scheduled time for the legal sentencing hearing of Donald Trump has been set for 10 a.m. on July 11th, a mere four days before the commencement of the Republican convention in Milwaukee where he is to formally become the Grand Old Party’s presidential candidate.