Southland reaction was swift Thursday to the conviction of former President Donald Trump, and predictably on party lines, as Democrats hailed the decision as a case of nobody being above the law, while Republicans blasted the entire trial as politically motivated.
“This is a reminder that no one is above the law, not even a former president,” Rep. Jimmy Gomez, D-Los Angeles, wrote on social media immediately following the verdict. “A jury of his peers — not his political opponents — weighed the evidence and believed there was enough to convict him. No grand conspiracy, only the truth: Trump is a criminal.”
Rep. Ted Lieu, D-Torrance, added, “In America, no one is above the law: not the rich, not the powerful, and certainly not any former President of the United States.”
Larry Elder, a longtime Los Angeles radio talk show host who ran a short-lived campaign for the Republican presidential nomination, blasted the jury’s decision.
“The verdict is an outrage,” Elder said. “A monster has been unleashed. And if Democrats don’t think Republican AGs and DAs can’t unleash law fare on Democrat politicians, think again.”
Elder’s comments echoed those of Trump himself, who emerged from the New York courtroom Thursday and blasted the entire criminal trial as a “disgrace” and a “rigged trial” led by a “corrupt” judge.
“I’m a very innocent man,” Trump said, decrying the case as a political maneuver to derail his presidential campaign.
“Our whole country is being rigged right now,” Trump said, later adding, “We’ll keep fighting the fight til the end, and we’ll win.”
Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson called it “a shameful day in American history.”
“This was a purely political exercise, not a legal one,” Johnson said. “The weaponization of our justice system has been a hallmark of the Biden administration, and the decision today is further evidence that Democrats will stop at nothing to silence dissent and crush their political opponents.”
The Orange County Republican Party issued a statement saying the trial “has been marred by political bias” from the start — “from cherry picking a Biden donor to serve as judge in one of the most liberal districts in the country to jury instructions that baffle any attorney in America.”
“The icing on the cake is the judge has chosen to wait for sentencing until four days before the Republican National Convention where we will nominate Donald Trump. This is election interference plain and simple,” according to the OC GOP. “This verdict will rightfully go to appeal where normal order should be restored to restore not only justice but the broken confidence in our legal system. The ultimate jury will be the American people on November 5th when voters will judge the failed Biden administration.”
Jessica Millan Patterson, chair of the California Republican Party, called it a “dark day for our justice system and our nation.”
“From the very beginning, this was a politically motivated case brought by a far-left district attorney,” Patterson said. “Despite Democrat-led efforts to interfere with the presidential election, Americans will have the final say this November when they re-elect President Trump and send him back to the White House to fix the many failures of the Biden administration and put our nation on a pathway to success.”
Trump was convicted of 34 felony counts, with jurors finding he falsified business records to cover up hush money paid to adult film actress Stormy Daniels to silence her contentions during the 2016 presidential campaign that she had a sexual encounter with Trump about 10 years earlier.
Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Burbank, insisted the case was about criminal conduct, not politics.
“Today, 12 ordinary American citizens found a former president guilty of dozens of felonies,” Schiff wrote on X. “Despite his efforts to distract, delay and deny — justice arrived for Donald Trump all the same. And the rule of law prevailed.”
The Orange County Democratic Party warned, however, “This is no time to rejoice. This is a time to reflect on how we as a people have arrived at this point and — more importantly — how we move forward together.”
Democrat Tony Thurmond, the California superintendent of public instruction, echoed the theme of nobody being above the law.
“But while this is a tremendous step for democratic norms and the rule of law in this country, there is still much more work to do to ensure this dangerous criminal does not re-enter the White House next year,” Thurmond wrote.
Rep. Robert Garcia, D-Long Beach, said in a statement, “This guilty verdict confirms what we have long known — Donald Trump is a con man and a criminal who has consistently exploited our country for his own personal gain. No one, not even a former president, is above the law. Meanwhile, the MAGA Republican Majority will continue to support and uplift Trump as their leader instead of condemning this serious criminal behavior.”
Rep. Maxine Waters, D-Los Angeles, wrote on X, “My predictions came true! I predicted three years ago at a speech with the Human Rights Campaign that Stormy Daniels would be the one to get Trump, my faith in the criminal justice system has been strengthened.”
Rep. Gil Cisneros, D-Los Angeles, said in a statement, “The decision in this case reaffirms our nation’s commitment to accountability and integrity in public service. No one, regardless of their status of position, is above the law. As we reflect on this moment, let us recommit ourselves to the ideals that define our democracy: equality, justice and the pursuit of truth.”