Donald Trump becomes first former US president to be convicted of felony

Donald Trump. Pic/AFP

Donald Trump became the first former US president to be convicted of a felony when a New York grand jury found him guilty on 34 counts of fabricating company records. The Biden-Harris campaign said that no one is above the law, while Trump condemned the ruling as the consequence of a crooked political system. Trump's sentence is scheduled for July 11, only days before the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, when he will be nominated as the party's presidential candidate in the November election.

Shortly after the verdict was announced, Trump denounced the trial as rigged by a compromised and corrupt judge. He maintained his innocence and called the trial a disgrace. Donald Trump, the prospective presidential nominee of the Republican party, vowed to continue fighting, alleging political vendetta by the Biden administration.

"This was a disgrace. This was a rigged trial by a conflicted judge who was corrupt. It's a rigged trial, a disgrace. They wouldn't give us a venue change. We were at 5 per cent or 6 per cent in this district and area. This was a rigged, disgraceful trial," said Trump.

Trump charged the Biden administration with organising the trial to hurt him politically. He vowed to fight until the end, claiming his innocence and loyalty to the country and its constitution. However, the Biden-Harris campaign applauded the jury's decision, underlining that no one is above the law.

"The real verdict is going to be November 5th by the people. And they know what happened here, and everybody knows what happened here. You have a Soros-backed DA, and the whole thing, we didn't do a thing wrong. I'm a very innocent man, and it's okay, I'm fighting for our country. I'm fighting for our Constitution. Our whole country is being rigged right now," Trump said.

The campaign director emphasised Trump's threat to democracy, expressing concern about his deranged pursuit of revenge and retaliation. Despite the conviction, Trump remains the Republican presidential nominee, but the campaign emphasised the significance of rejecting his second term bid to avoid anarchy and protect American freedoms.

"And I think it's just a disgrace. And we'll keep fighting. We'll fight till the end, and we'll win because our country has gone to hell,' he said. The Biden Harris campaign welcomed the jury's verdict. 'In New York today, we saw that no one is above the law. Donald Trump has always mistakenly believed he would never face consequences for breaking the law for his gain. But today's verdict does not change the fact that the American people face a simple reality. There is still only one way to keep Donald Trump out of the Oval Office: at the ballot box. Convicted felon or not, Trump will be the Republican nominee for president," said Biden-Harris 2024 Communications Director Michael Tyler.

"The threat Trump poses to our democracy has never been greater. He is running an increasingly unhinged campaign of revenge and retribution, pledging to be a dictator 'on day one' and calling for our Constitution to be 'terminated' so he can regain and keep power. A second Trump term means chaos, ripping away Americans' freedoms and fomenting political violence ' and the American people will reject it this November," Tyler said.

With PTI inputs