After his conviction, <a href="https://www.thenationalnews.com/news/us/2024/05/30/donald-trump-verdict-guilty/" target="_blank">Donald Trump</a> and his supporters took to social media to decry the verdict. “This was a disgrace – a rigged trial by a conflicted judge who is corrupt,” <a href="https://www.thenationalnews.com/news/us/2024/05/30/trump-used-racial-slur-during-filming-of-apprentice-former-producer-says/" target="_blank">Trump</a> wrote in screaming capitals on his Truth Social platform, referring to presiding Judge Juan Merchan. “We will fight for our Constitution – this is long from over.” Trump was convicted by a New York jury of <a href="https://www.thenationalnews.com/news/us/2024/05/30/what-happens-to-trump-now/" target="_blank">34 counts of falsifying business records</a> to cover up hush-money payments made to people to squash scandalous stories during his 2016 presidential campaign, <a href="https://www.thenationalnews.com/news/us/2024/05/08/us-house-rejects-attempt-to-remove-mike-johnson-as-speaker/" target="_blank">House Speaker Mike Johnson</a>, who was among a number of <a href="https://www.thenationalnews.com/opinion/comment/2024/05/31/donald-trump-is-a-convict-voters-will-decide-whether-it-matters/" target="_blank">Trump</a>-supporting politicians who travelled to New York to support the former president during the trial, called it a “shameful day in American history”. Mr Johnson claimed that “the weaponisation of our justice system has been a hallmark of the Biden administration”. The Justice Department is currently investigating <a href="https://www.thenationalnews.com/world/2023/12/08/hunter-biden-indicted-on-new-federal-tax-evasion-charges/" target="_blank">US President Joe Biden's son</a>. Other Republican politicians also weighed in. “This is a dark day for America,” Senator Ted Cruz said on X. “This entire trial has been a sham and it is nothing more than political persecution.” He said the verdict was “legally baseless” and “should be overturned promptly on appeal”. Senator Marco Rubio called the verdict "a complete travesty that makes a mockery of our system of justice”. “A political show trial conducted by an openly pro-Biden judge whose daughter makes money off the case, a jury from the most liberal county in America, absurd and ridiculous charges and outrageous jury instructions that guaranteed guilty verdicts,” Mr Rubio said on X. “Biden and the Trump-deranged left will stop at nothing to remain in power.” Representative Lauren Boebert, who also travelled to New York during the trial, said the trial was “always about election interference and stopping President Trump from winning his rightful re-election”. “The American people see through the Democrat games and know this is a sham verdict,” she said on X. Trump's family also rallied around him, with his son Donald Trump Jr saying on X that Mr “Merchan was never an impartial Judge who cared about the rule of law”. “He's a full-blown Democrat activist and Biden donor,” he claimed. Another tweet by Mr Trump Jr that linked to a website asking for donations for his father's presidential campaign read: “Help us fight back against Biden's corrupt election interference plot. Stand with Trump to Make America Great Again.” And Eric Trump tweeted that “May 30th, 2024, might be remembered as the day <a href="https://www.thenationalnews.com/tags/donald-trump/" target="_blank">Donald J Trump</a> won the 2024 presidential election”.
