Trump guilty: Michigan GOP, Dem leaders both call it 'A sad day for America' - for different reasons
FOX 2 (WJBK) - Reaction has poured in following the seismic guilty verdict in the New York trial of former President Donald Trump.
Trump was found guilty on all 34 counts of the so-called hush-money trial. Trump was charged in New York City with 34 counts of falsifying business records, each a felony punishable by up to four years in prison.
Over the course of a month, the 12-person jury heard testimony about sex and bookkeeping, tabloid journalism and presidential politics in a case using novel concepts never done before.
Michigan - a swing state in the 2024 election, reflects the deep political divide between right and left.
Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson posted a somewhat vague comment on X, formerly Twitter, shortly after the verdict.
"The truth, the law, democracy. These basic building blocks of who we are as Americans will always prevail when of integrity stand up, speak out, and demand they do," she said.
Depending on what side of the political aisle, while some Democrats are reveling in the decision, Republicans decried the lawfare and political persecution of the presumptive GOP presidential nominee.
US State Rep. John James (R-Michigan) called the decision election interference.
"These charges should have never been brought. The left-wing hypocrites who supported this 'trial' and outcome do not seek justice, but revenge. This isn't accountability, it's election interference and the American people will hold them accountable in November."
Michigan Congresswoman Elissa Slotkin, a Democrat, wrote on X that nobody is above the law and that is a sad day for our country.
"Presidents should be leaders we look up to; now, one of them is a convicted felon, found guilty by a jury of his peers," she said. "The only good news is that our justice system worked, even under enormous pressure. Every American, even a former president, must be held accountable under the law."
Michigan State Sen. Dayna Polehanki, a Democrat, cheered the verdict.
"JUSTICE. IS. SERVED. First (and hopefully last) FELON ex-president," she posted.
Michigan GOP Chairman Pete Hoekstra issued a statement calling the trial a distraction from the failures of the President Joe Biden administration.
"Brought by a corrupt, far-left district attorney in one of the most liberal cities in the country, this sham trial has been widely disregarded by legal experts," he said. "It is meant as a distraction from the real issues at play that Biden knows he's losing on with Michigan voters - like the economy, the attack on our automobile industry, and the weakness of our Southern Border."
Former Michigan US Rep. Justin Amash, a Republican, urged voters to set aside the politics adding that the charges would never have been brought against anyone else.
"Today's verdict is an affront to the Rule of Law and a perversion of justice," he posted on X. "This selective and abusive prosecution will further undermine confidence in our Constitution and divide America. It must not stand."
NEW YORK, NEW YORK - MAY 30: Former U.S. President Donald Trump departs the courtroom after being found guilty on all 34 counts in his hush money trial at Manhattan Criminal Court on May 30, 2024 in New York City. The former president was found guilt