Illinois politicians reacted to news that a New York jury found former President Donald Trump guilty on all counts in connection to a hush money payment made to conceal his 2006 affair with Stormy Daniels.
“Justice has been served. After facing a jury of his peers, Donald Trump is exposed as the liar and fraud that he is. Trump evaded the law to deceive voters and today, the law caught up with him,” said Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker in a statement.
Illinois Republican Party Chairman Don Tracy issued a statement defending the former President, adding in part: “Let’s call this trial what it really is: a political prosecution the likes of which occurs in banana republics but not previously in these United States.”
Trump, the presumptive nominee for the Republican presidential nomination, is scheduled to be sentenced on July 11, four days before the start of the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee.
While Trump maintained his innocence and his lawyer said they would appeal the verdict, he could face up to four years in prison. Still, there is a belief that Trump actually won’t serve any jail time because the charges don’t require it. According to one expert, his role as the Republican party’s choice for President has something to do with it.
“The idea of having him in custody is really hard to imagine, I think, given his role in the political theater of the country for the next six months,” former Manhattan District Attorney Cy Vance told the Associated Press.
Though Trump is the first former president ever to be convicted of felony crimes, there is a belief that it won’t keep him from running for President come November either.
Nevertheless, news of his conviction drew reaction from many worldwide, including Illinois.
Gov. Pritzker’s full statement:
“Justice has been served. After facing a jury of his peers, Donald Trump is exposed as the liar and fraud that he is. Trump evaded the law to deceive voters and today, the law caught up with him.
“Donald Trump is a racist, a homophobe, a grifter, and a threat to this country. He can now add one more title to his list – a felon. But let me be clear, Donald Trump will never be 47.”
Illinois Republican Party Chair Tracy’s full statement:
“Let’s call this trial what it really is: a political prosecution the likes of which occurs in banana republics but not previously in these United States. Democrat activist investigators and prosecutors have relentlessly hounded President Trump for years. First, they challenged the legitimacy of his election in 2016 thru the Russian collusion hoax.
Then, they strove to defeat his re-election in 2020 thru impeachments and the Hunter Biden laptop coverup. Then, they indicted him and his supporters to tarnish his legacy in an effort to re-elect President Biden. This weaponization of the judicial system has weakened our country here and in the eyes of the world, which I’m sure President Biden will savor while he vacations in Delaware as his handlers make critical decisions for the country.”
Taking to social media platform X, former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagoevich posted the following:
I love Trump more today than ever! When you’ve lived through it yourself you recognize when they do it to someone else. The political fix was in from the beginning. Disgraceful and corrupt convictions of the leading candidate from the opposition party by a handpicked politicized…
— Rod Blagojevich (@realBlagojevich) May 30, 2024
Illinois Sen. Dick Durbin also took to X to post this:
As I’ve said all along: no one is above the law—not even a former president. Consistent with the rule of law, a jury of his peers found the former president guilty on all counts.
— Senator Dick Durbin (@SenatorDurbin) May 31, 2024
Illinois Sen. Tammy Duckworth also tweeted this:
Our justice system has made it resoundingly clear: no one is above the law. Not even a former President of the United States.
— Tammy Duckworth (@SenDuckworth) May 31, 2024
Rev. Al Sharpton, Founder and President of the National Action Network, issued the following statement
“I couldn’t help but think throughout this trial of Donald Trump sitting through days of testimony in Manhattan Criminal Court. This is the same building that Antron McCray, Kevin Richardson, Yusef Salaam, Raymond Santana, and Korey Wise all passed into, day after day, as they endured a show trial for a crime they did not commit. These children had to hear vitriol from people whose anger was incited by a man who spent a small fortune on full-page ads calling for their execution. Now the shoe is on the other foot. Donald Trump is the criminal, and those five men are exonerated. I’m reminded of Dr. King’s proverb that the arc of history is long, but it bends toward justice.
What happens next is crucial. We cannot allow the hate speech that Donald Trump spewed in 1989, 2016, or 2024 to be mimicked by those who have stood against his actions. A lot will be said about the first conviction of a former president in our nearly 250-year history. The discourse will carry on for weeks, months, and years. We cannot allow it to be guided by sore winners who gloat over this conviction, when it only stands to ignite the Donald Trumps all over this nation who still want to take us back to the pre-1964 era. Cheering this conviction with malice will only empower those who committed violence on January 6th to do it on May 31st. Instead, celebrate by casting votes for leaders who will protect democracy – not who want to kill it.”
Biden-Harris 2024 Communications Director Michael Tyler’s statement on the verdict:
“In New York today, we saw that no one is above the law.
“Donald Trump has always mistakenly believed he would never face consequences for breaking the law for his own personal gain. But today’s verdict does not change the fact that the American people face a simple reality. There is still only one way to keep Donald Trump out of the Oval Office: at the ballot box. Convicted felon or not, Trump will be the Republican nominee for president.
“The threat Trump poses to our democracy has never been greater. He is running an increasingly unhinged campaign of revenge and retribution, pledging to be a dictator ‘on day one’ and calling for our Constitution to be ‘terminated’ so he can regain and keep power. A second Trump term means chaos, ripping away Americans’ freedoms and fomenting political violence – and the American people will reject it this November.”
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