T
he Trump campaign was prepared. Minutes after a Manhattan jury convicted the former President on felony charges of falsifying business records, fundraising pitches inundated mailboxes; right-wing influencers stormed social media with aggrieved tirades; and Donald Trump emerged from the courtroom to delegitimize the verdict. “This was a disgrace,” he told reporters. “This was a rigged trial by a conflicted judge who was corrupt.”
That much was expected. But the onslaught of attacks against the ruling extended beyond the mass of MAGA loyalists. Many of Trump’s GOP critics assailed the trial rather than the first U.S. President to be found guilty of a crime. It was a strikingly cohesive message from virtually all corners of the conservative firmament, even among those who don’t subscribe to the America First doctrine. This didn’t happen by accident. It was part of a deliberate strategy by Trump to impose the same talking points throughout the party: that Trump’s felony conviction was nothing more than a Democratic hit job.
While some in Trump’s orbit held out hope for a hung jury, people close to him say he was expecting a guilty charge. Now the Trump campaign is corralling the entire GOP apparatus around a crusade that has the effect of undermining faith in the rule of law. Trump’s tight grip over the GOP only made that easier.
The verdict produced fresh signs that GOP dissension could pose politically existential risks. Trump has already capitalized on his felony conviction, raising a stunning $34.8 million in less than 12 hours. The campaign’s success stemmed from a coordinated effort by prominent Republican officials to discredit Trump’s legal woes. On Thursday, a jury found Trump guilty on 34 charges of falsifying business records.
Despite the unanimous verdict, Trump’s closest allies took aim at the judge and the prosecutor, undermining the judicial system. Those broadsides are not likely to abate, as Trump vows to appeal the ruling. The campaign is now shifting from the courtroom to the campaign trail, testing whether American voters are willing to elevate a convicted criminal to the nation’s highest office.