Donald Trump launched into attacks on the judge in his criminal trial and continued to undermine New York's criminal justice system on May 31 as he tried to repackage his conviction on 34 felony charges as fuel, not an impediment, to his latest White House bid. Trump spoke to reporters at his namesake tower in Manhattan on Friday, his return to campaigning a day after he was convicted of trying to illegally influence the 2016 election by falsifying business records to hide a hush money payment to a porn actor who claimed they had sex. Also read | Analysis: How former U.
S. President Donald Trump got convicted at his hush money trial Trump, as defiant as ever, argued the verdict was illegitimate and driven by politics and sought to downplay the allegations underlying the case. “It’s not hush money.
It’s a nondisclosure agreement, totally legal, totally common,” he said. In a message aimed to galvanize his supporters, he declared: “If they can do this to me, they can do this to anyone." While the guilty verdict against him and his vow to fight appeared to motivate his base of supporters, including those who began pouring donations into his campaign, it's unclear if any of this will help him with independent voters who will be decisive in the November election.
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 central to his campaign. He has long argued wit.