NEW YORK — Nine years ago, Donald Trump famously descended the golden escalator at Trump Tower to launch his upstart presidential campaign.
Fast forward to today, and the former president, now a convicted felon, strode past that same elevator in Manhattan to launch into a free-wheeling 40-minute press conference in which he blasted Judge Juan Merchan, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, former fixer Michael Cohen, President Joe Biden, and the general state of the United States of America.
During the rambling speech, Trump repeatedly referenced a Daily Mail poll, went on a tour of past grievances, including mentioning the impeachment cases against him, along with the House Committee investigation of the Jan. 6 Capitol attack, and maintained no admission that he had committed a crime.
“As far as the trial itself, it was very unfair. We weren’t allowed to use our election expert under any circumstances,” the former president said in front of the golden elevators in Trump Tower.
TRUMP GUILTY IN MANHATTAN HUSH MONEY CASE
Trump said Merchan was a “tyrant” and “devil.” He also stated his team would appeal the case.
“The people of our country know it’s a hoax. They know it’s a hoax,” he said. “They get it. You know, they’re really smart. And it’s something, so we’re going to be appealing this scam. We’re going to be appealing it on many different things. He wouldn’t allow us to have witnesses. He wouldn’t allow us to talk. He wouldn’t allow us to do anything.”
Merchan first fined Trump $9,000 for violating a gag order multiple times in late April. Roughly a week later, Merchan fined Trump an additional $1,000 for violating the gag order again.
On Thursday, Merchan set Trump’s sentencing for July 11, four days before the Republican National Committee convention, although Trump’s team hopes to delay the sentencing.
It is unclear how the RNC convention will proceed once the sentencing process is finished.
Trump defiantly maintained his innocence after a 12-member jury found him guilty of covering up a hush money payment scheme to porn star Stormy Daniels during the 2016 election.
“I paid a lawyer, totally legal. I paid a lawyer, a legal expense. And a bookkeeper without any knowledge from me correctly marked it down in the books, a very professional one, highly respected,” he said.
Later on, Trump stated he did nothing wrong. “This was standard stuff, all standard stuff. Everything involved was standard. There was no crime here,” he said.
The former president also bemoaned not testifying in his case, although he had the option but declined to take the witness stand.
“Now I would have testified. I wanted to testify. The theory is you never testify because as soon as you testify for anybody, if it were George Washington, don’t testify because they’ll get you on something that you said slightly wrong,” Trump said. “And then they sue you for perjury, but I didn’t care about that. I wanted to, but the judge allowed them to go into everything that I was ever involved in.”
The guilty verdict marks the first time in American history a former president has been convicted of a felony crime.
It could have serious complications on how Trump continues his general election battle against Biden if he is sentenced to prison or is forced to limit his movement.
Some polling suggests that independent voters may be less willing to support Trump after a guilty verdict.
The Biden campaign quickly released a video of the Trump speech showing Trump continuously addressing a Daily Mail poll in which the former president gained a 6-percentage-point bump after the verdict.
“A confused and forgetful Trump repeats the exact same thing 15 minutes apart: ‘The Daily Mail poll,'” the campaign posted on X.
After Trump’s speech, the Biden campaign released a full statement from communications director Michael Tyler lambasting Trump.
“America just witnessed a confused, desperate, and defeated Donald Trump ramble about his own personal grievances and lie about the American justice system, leaving anyone watching with one obvious conclusion: This man cannot be president of the United States,” Tyler said.
“Unhinged by his 2020 election loss and spiraling from his criminal convictions, Trump is consumed by his own thirst for revenge and retribution,” Tyler continued. “He thinks this election is about him. But it’s not. It’s about the American people: lowering their costs, protecting their freedoms, defending their democracy.”
Across the street from the Trump Tower building as Trump spoke stood a crowd of hundreds of New Yorkers. A large percentage of the people there were Trump supporters, but some detractors stood around the edges of the block to gloat and celebrate the former president’s guilty verdict.
“I heard the news yesterday, and I came out here today to support our president,”
Paul Doran from the borough of Brooklyn told the Washington Examiner.
“Support for [Trump] right now has increased in a way that we cannot allow a biased and rigged trial to determine the next president of the United States,” said another Brooklyn resident, Dan, who declined to give his last name.
A loudspeaker played Trump’s speech across the street from the Trump Tower where the crowd assembled.
A crowd also gathered in Trump Tower to listen to Trump’s speech.
Inside the media barricade stood some supporters of Trump who waved giant flags, including one that read, “Trump or Death.”
There were noticeably more supporters at the Trump Tower speech than those who stood in the park outside the New York City Criminal Court building following the verdict on Thursday.
After the speech, Trump headed to his golf club in Bedminster, New Jersey.
A motorcade-style parade of vehicles adorned with MAGA gear paraded around the hotel three times as a gesture of gratitude toward Trump supporters for coming out to his post-guilty verdict event.
A loudspeaker played a parody of “Born in the USA” changed to “Trump’s in the USA.”
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It was these supporters and those across the nation who helped Trump raise $34.8 million after the verdict was announced.
“It seems like since the time of 2016, people have been out to get him,” said Ronda Lester, a resident from Central Florida who was in New York on vacation.
