How did Donald Trump react to his criminal trial verdict? | BBC News

joining me is my colleague Kayla Epstein who was there Kayla what a historic moment to witness first of all Donald Trump when the jury started to read count by count that he was guilty what was his demeanor so it was almost like the air turned a stone when they started reading out those guilty verdicts one by one and as each count and each guilty verdict rolled over him Donald Trump was completely motionless at the defense table I was sitting directly behind him and while I couldn't see his face his body language was some of the stillest I've ever seen it he didn't move he didn't gesture he just sat there as they said guilty guilty guilty 34 times I mean these jurors sat through five weeks of testimony prosecutors left absolutely nothing to chance ultimately it took them 11 hours to come to this decision a decision that they knew would have a historic impact not just on on holding Donald Trump accountable but on an presidential election that is underway looking at the jury did you get a sense that they were overwhelmed by that moment the jury actually looked quite serious and they did look very somber but they didn't look overwhelmed to me they throughout the entire trial they have looked like people who knew the weight of the job that they had to do but also were focused on their task and when the foreman was called upon to read out each guilty verdict he did so in a clear loud voice it never appeared to my ears to waver and when the judge asked them to all go one by one and say what they believed they all said guilty again some not as loudly but all in a clear voice I think it has struck all of us how Donald Trump uh publicly has slammed this judge as conflicted but judge Mara has such a mild manner in the court when the verdict was read what advice did he give to jur when they had completed their civic duty Justice Maran has been you know a real figure of authority and respect to the jury he speaks to them very kindly he makes sure that this doesn't disrupt their lives anymore than it has to and when they were done delivering their verdict he thanked them he said that he had watched as they deliberated he had watched how much care that they put into it and it was just you know very much a moment for the judge as well um he seemed proud of the jury for taking on this ormous burden and doing their work as the law said they had to also in the coure was the Manhattan district attorney Alvin Bragg of course he was the first prosecutor to bring charges against a former president many had actually criticized him and wondered if this was a case worth bringing but ultimately it's had an outsized impact now given this is the only case that will be heard before the election and it has resulted now in a guilty verdict but let's turn back to Donald Trump because as he left left he turned to his family in that moment didn't he yeah the only family member who was in court with him today was Eric Trump his second eldest son and As Trump got up and left the defense table he passed right by Eric who was sitting right in the front row and he seemed to grab his upper arm or his chest in almost like a moment of a fatherly gesture and while I don't know what was going through his mind or who was comforting who he did reach out for the closest Family he had at that moment before he walked out of the courtroom without saying a word you know it's uh so interesting to cover this trial both from outside here in lower Manhattan as people were absorbing the news and in such a different environment there in the courtroom and of course it all comes together when Donald Trump speaks to the Press reacts to this it was interesting he was his normal defiant self but he made a comment that ultimately the real verdict is going to be November 5th in the election essentially he promised that he is going to keep fighting sitting through When Donald Trump has called this case politically motivated out by democrats I mean you sat there you heard this evidence was there any surprise that the jury did find Donald Trump guilty based on the evidence just how overwhelming and compelling was it I wasn't in the Jury Room and no one will know unless the jurors decide to speak what went through their minds as they weighed the evidence but we do know that the prosecution told a very compelling very cohesive narrative from start to finish from opening statements to closing arguments that laid out a detailed Narrative of what they alleged Trump had done they brought reams of evidence text messages emails testimony from 20 people most of them key players in this case and they really went over every single piece of evidence they could and presented them to the jury and you know while we may never know what was the decisive piece of evidence they clearly uh dodged one of the biggest question marks in this case which was Michael Cohen's credibility so much of this case hinged on him he has committed perjury in front of Congress in the past Trump's lawyers relentlessly hammered him the entire time under cross-examination in opening statements and closing arguments calling him at one time the greatest liar of all time but you can see that the prosecution was able to back up his case with enough sorry excuse me his testimony with enough evidence that clearly um the jury was able to see pass Cohen's flaws and perhaps find their way to a guilty verdict you know we've seen Donald Trump's Evolution here in New York from Real Estate Mogul reality TV star president ultimately and now convicted felon for New Yorkers who are here who have called Donald Trump a con man none other than Robert dairo here for the Biden campaign just a few days ago there were celebrations that broke out in uh the park here many coming out with statements including the Biden Harris campaign saying that Donald Trump mistakenly believed he would never face consequences for breaking the law American people face a simple reality the only way to keep Donald Trump out of the Oval Office at The Ballot Box that from the Biden campaign saying in New York today they showed no one was above the law the White House saying though we respect the rule of law and have no additional comment I mean we certainly saw the campaigning that went on outside of here Republicans have a very different view speaker Johnson he was here during the campaign he has said this is a disgrace for America a shameful day in American history purely political exercise not a legal one Kayla when you reflect on the campaigns ahead how do you think Donald Trump will use this verdict to try to get out of the political danger that he clearly faces with independent voters we are going to be hearing about this verdict every until election day in November Trump is going to use it to Rally support from his base he has done a very good job of keeping his supporters close to him by making the argument that they're really going after me because they're going after you they're trying to silence me because they're trying to silence you Meanwhile we're are going to see Joe Biden attacking Donald Trump's you know Fitness for office based off of this and this is going to run through the entire election you know we talked about sentencing here uh in July that's right before the Republican National Convention where Trump will officially become the Republican nominee and so this verdict will have Ripple effects now can we get into the minds of individual voters right now we don't know but polling has shown that at least some voters might turn away from Trump if he actually is convicted in one of his criminal trials as he has been here

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Length: 7min 48sec (468 seconds)

Published: Fri May 31 2024