On Thursday, former President Donald Trump was found guilty on 34 felony counts in his New York "hush money" trial.
The trial lasted roughly six weeks. This week, the jury deliberated for a total of 9.5 hours over the course of two days before reaching a verdict.
In 2023, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg (D) charged Trump with 34 counts of Falsifying Business Records in the First Degree. Trump pleaded not guilty to all charges. As Katie noted, Bragg's team didn't focus on proving the fraud charges. Instead, prosecutors honed in on "hush money payments" and focused on irrelevant details of an alleged affair.
Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who is running for president against Trump and Biden, reacted to the news of the guilty verdict on X, noting that this ruling will “backfire” for Democrats.
“The Democratic Party's strategy is to beat President Trump in the courtroom rather than the ballot box. This will backfire in November. Even worse, it is profoundly undemocratic,” Kennedy said.
“America deserves a President who can win at the ballot box without compromising our government’s separation of powers or weaponizing the courts. You can’t save democracy by destroying it first,” he added. “The Democrats are afraid they will lose in the voting booth, so instead they go after President Trump in the courtroom.”
The Democratic Party's strategy is to beat President Trump in the courtroom rather than the ballot box. This will backfire in November. Even worse, it is profoundly undemocratic.
— Robert F. Kennedy Jr (@RobertKennedyJr) May 30, 2024
America deserves a President who can win at the ballot box without compromising our government’s…
In an interview with Jesse Watters, Kennedy doubled-down that he believes this decision will backfire come November.
“I think that every time that President Trump has been indicted, that his approval ratings actually increase. His popularity increases…I think the Democrats feel like, the DNC feels like, it has a candidate that can not win fair and square in the polls and so they have to win in the courts. By clearing the deck and getting their opponents out of the race.”
I told @jessebwatters that I believe the strategy to beat President Trump in the courtroom rather than the ballot box will backfire.
— Robert F. Kennedy Jr (@RobertKennedyJr)
Don’t get me wrong – I’m no fan of Trump’s. I’m running against him because of his record: his lockdowns during Covid, his failure to root out… pic.twitter.com/wknEE0r8T8