Former US President Donald Trump, found guilty by a New York jury this week, said in an interview broadcast on Sunday that a prison sentence could be “a breaking point” for his supporters.
The Republican presidential candidate in November warned on Fox News that a prison sentence “swould be complicated for the public to accept. You know, at a certain point, there’s a breaking point.”.
These words have particular resonance in a country still marked by the attack on the Capitol on January 6, 2021, when supporters of Mr. Trump tried to prevent the certification of the electoral victory of his Democratic rival Joe Biden.
They also come at a time when the 77-year-old business magnate is using increasingly violent rhetoric towards his opponents. Democratic elected official Adam Schiff affirmed that with his remarks Donald Trump was inciting, “clearly“, “to violence once his judgment is known”.
One of the ex-president’s sons, Eric Trump, felt that the affair was making his father “a martyr”. “The American people are not stupid” And “sees exactly what is happening”he assured.
“Very difficult”
After six weeks of proceedings in Manhattan court, a jury found Donald Trump guilty of 34 counts of accounting falsification for payments in late 2016 to former porn actress Stormy Daniels to keep her from dating sexual encounter she says she had with him in 2006.
Mr. Trump categorically denies this relationship. This verdict, the first in criminal proceedings in the history of the United States against a former president, will not prevent the billionaire from being a presidential candidate against Joe Biden.
But Donald Trump immediately let his anger explode, denouncing a lawsuit “very unfair” and even faked – without providing the slightest proof.
He also accused Joe Biden and his “band” to be “sick” and “fascists” responsible for his legal setbacks. On his Truth Social network, he called on Sunday the Supreme Court of the United States, where a majority of judges are close to the Republican Party, to decide.
“A highly controversial Democratic-appointed local judge will issue a decision that will determine the future of the nation?”he asked himself.
“The Supreme Court of the United States must decide”, added the candidate, who had already announced his intention to appeal. In American law, however, such an appeal is judged at the state level and not directly by the Federal Supreme Court.
In the interview broadcast on Sunday, the ex-president also claimed that his recent trial had been “very difficult” for his wife Melania, whose absence was noted among the members of his family who came to support him in court.
“Punching bag”
As for Stormy Daniels, whose silence since Thursday’s verdict has been very noticed (she usually does not hesitate to comment in a sharp tone on Donald Trump’s legal troubles), she ended up reacting to the British newspaper DailyMirror.
“I believe he should be sentenced to prison and community service for the less fortunate, or serve as a voluntary punching bag in a women’s shelter”she added with her usual freedom of tone.
In recent days, she had remained in the background and allowed her husband and her lawyer to speak in the media. Both men suggested that apprehension, even fear, was not unrelated to his silence.
Stormy Daniels recently said she had received death threats since Donald Trump was indicted. She also judged in the Daily Mirror interview that the Republican candidate was “completely and totally disconnected from reality”.
Testify in court “was so intimidating, with the jurors looking at you”underlined Stormy Daniels, “but as I said before, I told the truth all the time”.
The testimony of Stephanie Clifford, her real name, was one of the high points of the debates. She notably recounted in detail the supposed sexual relationship, according to her consensual but where the “balance of power” was “imbalance”.
“It will never be over for me”, she said. Donald Trump may be found guilty, “I must always live with this heritage”.
