Anger, outrage and surprise: top reactions to the verdict against Trump in Manhattan

Donald Trump was found guilty of all 34 charges that the Manhattan District Attorney's Office had brought against him. The jury's decision made him the first U.S. president (either in office or out of office) to be convicted of a crime. As expected, reactions were swift. Politicians, opinion leaders and even international figures spoke out.

Just minutes after the jury's decision was announced, which found the former president guilty of each and every one of the charges against him, Trump himself broke his silence.

“This was a rigged trial by a conflicted and corrupt judge. The real verdict is going to be on November 5 by the people, and they know what happened here,” he assured, giving rise to many other reactions.

“This will be counterproductive”

One of the first to criticize the verdict was Vivek Ramaswamy, a former presidential candidate who seems like a possible member of Trump's cabinet in an eventual return to the White House.

“The prosecutor is a politician who promised to nail Trump. The judge’s daughter is a Democrat operative who literally *raised $ from the trial* while her father presided over it. The jury instructions said they didn’t have to agree on the crime to convict. This will backfire,” he wrote on his X account.

He was joined by Senator Ted Cruz, who also expressed himself on social networks, lamenting the politicization of justice. “This is a dark day for America. This entire trial has been a sham, and it is nothing more than political persecution. The only reason they prosecuted Donald Trump is because Democrats are terrified that he will win reelection. This disgraceful decision is legally baseless and should be overturned promptly on appeal. Any judge with a modicum of integrity would recognize that this entire trial has been utterly fraudulent,” the Texas senator wrote.

His colleague Marco Rubio felt much the same way. “The New York verdict is a complete travesty that makes a mockery of our justice system. A political trial led by an openly pro-Biden judge whose daughter makes money off the case, a jury from the most liberal county in America, absurd and ridiculous charges, and outrageous jury instructions that guaranteed guilty verdicts. Biden and the unhinged Trump left will stop at nothing to stay in power,” the Florida senator noted.

For Ben Shapiro, a popular conservative commentator, the trial was “an absolute travesty -- and, in all likelihood, a massive Constitutional mess.”

Tucker Carlson asserted that convicting a former president makes the United States a “third-world” country. “That’s what we just saw. This won’t stop Trump. He’ll win the election if he’s not killed first. But it does mark the end of the fairest justice system in the world. Anyone who defends this verdict is a danger to you and your family,” he added, also on his X account.

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis also took to X to lament the situation. “It is often said that no one is above the law, but it is also true that no one is below the law. If the defendant were not Donald Trump, this case would never have been filed, the judge would never have handed down similar sentences, and the jury would never have returned a guilty verdict,” he said.

“In the United States, the rule of law must be applied dispassionately and even-handedly, and not become captive to the political agenda of some kangaroo court,” he added.

For Donald Trump Jr. the jury's decision is a triumph for the Democratic Party. “Guilty on all counts. The Democrats have succeeded in their years long attempt to turn America into a third-world shithole. November 5 is our last chance to save it,” he expressed.

From abroad, one of the first to react was Nigel Farage, a British ex-politician and Brexit proponent, who predicted an even more resounding Trump triumph in November. “This verdict is a disgrace. Trump will now win big,” he said on X.

RFK's response: “You can't save democracy by destroying it first”

One of the most surprising reactions came from Robert F. Kennedy Jr, independent candidate for president.

Kennedy took direct aim at the Democratic Party for its strategy of “defeating President Trump in the courts and not at the ballot box,” which, he predicted, “will backfire in November.”

“Worse, it is profoundly undemocratic. America deserves a president who can win at the ballot box without compromising our government's separation of powers or weaponizing the courts. You can't save democracy by destroying it first,” he wrote in X.

This is a developing news story...