How Trump prepared his allies for a guilty verdict

The Trump campaign was prepared. Minutes after a Manhattan jury convicted the former President, fundraising pitches inundated inboxes, right-wing influencers stormed social media, and Donald Trump emerged from the courtroom to delegitimize the verdict.

- ERIC CORTELLESSA

"This was a disgrace," he told reporters. "This was a rigged trial by a conflicted judge who was corrupt."

That much was expected. But the onslaught of attacks against the ruling extended beyond the mass of MAGA loyalists. Many of Trump's GOP critics assailed the trial, rather than the first U.S. President to be found guilty of a crime. "These charges should have never been brought in the first place," said Senate minority leader Mitch McConnell, a Trump World villain.