One of former President Donald Trump’s biggest boosters in the Inland Empire Thursday dismissed the notion that the guilty verdicts in the ex-commander-in-chief’s felony trial will keep him from winning the November election, while a congressman said the jury’s findings proved he wasn’t “above the law.”
“I’ve got news for you, a guilty verdict isn’t going to keep Donald Trump from being the 47th president,” former state Sen. Melissa Melendez of Lake Elsinore said via Twitter. “You may want to get used to that idea now. MAGA.”
Melendez, who was termed out of office in 2022 and a vocal backer of Trump throughout his presidency, reacted within minutes of Thursday’s verdicts coming out of New York City in the so-called “hush money case” related to ex-porn star Stormy Daniels.
The Manhattan jury of five women and seven men found the former president guilty of all 34 charges tied to falsification of business records. Prosecutors alleged Trump provided $130,000 to attorney Michael Cohen for his payments to Daniels to keep her quiet about relations with the defendant prior to the 2016 election.
“Guilty on all 34 counts,” Rep. Mark Takano, D-Riverside, a steadfast opponent of the former president, said via Facebook. “Today’s decision shows that no one, even a former president, is above the rule of law.”
Trump’s supporters have argued the allegations and trial were politically motivated and undertaken for the sole purpose of derailing his chances of having another shot at the White House. His critics have pointed to the trial’s revelations as further proof of his shady dealings and misconduct.
“Americans who believe that justice should be blind to politics and administered equally should be concerned with today’s outcome,” Rep. Ken Calvert, R-Corona, said. “It’s alarming that our criminal justice system continues to be taken advantage of by partisan prosecutors, who want to use the power of their office to influence our democratic elections.”
Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Temecula, said the charges against Trump “should never have been brought.”
“A trial never should have happened,” he said. “(There was) a judge that can’t be trusted. And now (there’s) a tear in the fabric of our justice system that won’t soon be repaired.”
Sentencing is set for July 11. The Republican National Convention is scheduled mid-July in Milwaukee.
“This was a rigged, disgraceful trial, and the real verdict is going to be Nov. 5 by the people,” Trump said in a statement. “They know what happened here, and everybody knows what happened here. I’m a very innocent man.”