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The fallout continued after Donald Trump’s landmark conviction on 34 counts in New York. Both Trump and President Biden have weighed in on the verdict as the two prepare for a rematch in November. As Lisa Desjardins reports, the GOP rushed to line up its presumptive nominee.
Note: Transcripts are generated through machines and humans and are modified for accuracy. Possibly they would imply errors.
Geoff Bennett:
Welcome to NewsHour.
The fallout continued after Donald Trump’s landmark conviction on 34 counts in New York.
Amna Nawaz:
Both the former president and President Joe Biden have weighed in on the verdict as the two prepare for a rematch in November.
And, as Lisa Desjardins reports, the GOP rushed to line up its presumptive nominee.
Donald Trump, former president of the United States (right) and U. S. presidential candidate: This is a scam. It is a rigged trial.
Lisa Desjardins:
From former President Donald Trump, a defiant 33-minute speech a day after he was convicted of 34 criminal counts of tampering with business records.
Donald Trump:
He hasn’t been in this room. We have not had this judge.
Lisa Desjardins:
At Trump Tower, the Republican reiterated his complaints against the decision to try the prosecutor involved in the case. And he overcame the barriers of a still-current gag order by punishing his former lawyer and fixer Michael Cohen, but not by name.
Donald Trump:
It’s a sordid one. All that.
Lisa Desjardins:
The potential Republican presidential nominee claimed his case had been dealt with by others. And he once again blamed the Biden administration, but without any direct evidence and without acknowledging that his own team helped choose the New York jury that unanimously convicted him.
President Biden reacted to the verdict by saying that no one is above the law.
Joe Biden, President of the United States: It’s reckless, it’s dangerous, it’s irresponsible for anyone to say this is rigged just because they don’t like the verdict.
Lisa Desjardins:
As Trump prepares his call, his base speaks in dollars. Her crusade said it raised about $35 million in the hours after the verdict, and at one point an online fundraising page was deleted.
NORTHEAST. MARCO RUBIO (R-FL):
He was elected president last night.
Lisa Desjardins:
The parade of Republican officials who had supported Trump in the courtroom criticized the outcome.
House Speaker Mike Johnson made a direct plea to the U. S. High Court.
Rep. Mike Johnson (R-LA):
I believe that this Supreme Court deserves to intervene in a flagrant manner. This is unprecedented and detrimental to our system.
Lisa Desjardins:
But prominent Republican former Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan, who is recently running for U. S. Senate, wrote on social media: “I urge all Americans to respect the verdict. “
Within just over an hour, Trump’s most sensible adviser replied curtly, “You’ve just finished your campaign,” a sign of the threat and retaliation faced by those who break with Trump.
Democrats, along with Maryland Rep. Jamie Raskin, have focused heavily on the rule of law.
Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD):
You know, my first reaction: thank God for the jury’s formula. It is a wonderful victory for the formula of justice in liberal democracy.
Lisa Desjardins:
Today, even as a convicted felon, Trump continues. The Constitution does not impose any restrictions on your right to run. And as a Florida resident, you can vote in November, as long as you don’t go to jail. But if elected, Trump would not pardon himself, because those are state crimes, not federal crimes.
The sentencing, which adds an imaginable criminal penalty, is scheduled for July 11, a week before he officially accepts the Republican nomination for president.
For PBS NewsHour, my name is Lisa Desjardins.
Lisa Desjardins is a correspondent for PBS News Hour, where she covers news from the U. S. Capitol as she travels across the country to report on how other people where they live and work make decisions in Washington.
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