How Trump Loyal Followers are Responding to the Verdict
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A person in a blue T-shirt stands next to an upside-down American flag. The back of his shirt says, “Born to Ride” at the top and “Donald J. Trump” at the bottom. A circle in the middle has the number “45.” |
Elizabeth Dias and
The New York Times
The sense of grievance erupted as powerfully as the verdict itself.
From the low hills of northwest Georgia to a veterans’ retreat in Alaska to suburban New Hampshire, the corners of conservative America resounded with anger over the New York jury’s declaration that former President Donald J. Trump was guilty.
But their discontent was about more than the 34 felony counts that Mr. Trump was convicted on, which his supporters quickly dismissed as politically motivated.
They saw in the jury’s finding a rejection of themselves, and the values they believed their nation should uphold. Broad swaths of liberal America may have found long-awaited justice in the trial’s outcome. But for many staunch Trump loyalists — people who for years have listened to and believed Mr. Trump’s baseless claims that the system is rigged against him, and them — the verdict on Thursday threatened to shatter their faith in democracy itself.
“We are at that crossroads. The democracy that we have known and cherished in this nation is now threatened,” Franklin Graham, the evangelist, said in an interview from Alaska. “I’ve got 13 grandchildren. What kind of nation are we leaving them?”
Echoing him was Marie Vast, 72, of West Palm Beach, Fla., near Mr. Trump’s Mar-a-Lago home. “I know a lot of people who say they still believe in our government,” she said, “but when the Democrats can manipulate things this grossly, and use the legal system as a tool to get the outcome they want, the system isn’t working.”
Among more than two dozen people interviewed across 10 states on Friday, the sentiments among conservatives were so strong that they echoed the worry and fear that many progressives described feeling after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade almost two years ago.
The guilty verdict was “the dark spot of politics in America in my lifetime,” said Phillip Neff, 80, a retired businessman in Dalton, Ga. Mr. Trump “may be a clown in some ways, but he’s not a devil,” he said. “And I think what we’re facing right now is really a constitutional crisis.”
Perhaps even more than anger or fear, many of those interviewed described feeling a deep resolve. Cindy Swasey, 67, a retired office assistant in Dover, N.H., said the verdict had driven her straight to her computer, where she tried donating to the Trump campaign. (The computer or the campaign website crashed, she said, but she planned to follow through and send $50, her first-ever donation to a political candidate.)
“I’m not really wealthy enough to do it, but I felt almost obligated,” she said, “and I think it’s time we all do if we want to keep this country a democracy. I think people are waking up and realizing that the wealthy elitists are taking over the country.”
Paula Lopez, 52, a longtime Republican voter who works at a real estate firm in Dallas, said: “I wouldn’t use the word angry. I would use, I would use the word upset, but determined, you know? This isn’t going to stop us. It’s not going to stop him.”
Many others, like Ms. Lopez, said they were grappling with their faith in the legal system after Mr. Trump was convicted of falsifying records to cover up a sex scandal that threatened to derail his 2016 presidential campaign.
For Woody Clendenen, a barber in Cottonwood, Calif., the verdict was either a “death knell for the Constitution” or a sign it was “on life support.” Others compared shocking disasters and turning points in history like the fall of Rome.
Willard Jones, 66, a retired veterinarian in La Porte, Texas, wondered if he could countenance serving on a jury in the future. “I’m just wondering, is our country like the Titanic?” he said, before giving Mr. Trump $20.24.
The belief that the Democrats and President Biden have corrupted the democratic system is nothing new to the Trump coalition. But for some, the verdict was the most egregious evidence to date, even though it was delivered by 12 jurors selected in the textbook manner of any criminal trial in America. And it made their support for Mr. Trump even stronger.
In Russellville, Ark., Bill and Becky Brown had not been paying much attention to the trial. “Why follow it?” Ms. Brown, 67, said at a food truck fair. “They’re going to find him guilty anyway.”
She added “It makes me mad that I don’t feel like there’s anything we can do. The only thing is to get him back in.”
Trump stickers and hats for sale inside a store in Dalton, Ga.Credit...Kendrick Brinson for The New York Times
Mr. Brown said the couple had been stockpiling food and other supplies in case of possible civil unrest and the need to defend their home. “If Biden gets it again, I mean, I have a feeling the way everybody is, that’s going to be a major uproar,” he said. “A lot of people I know — they’re stocking up on arms, they’re stocking up on survival gear.”
But instead of mass protest, conservative voters generally said that they planned to find vindication through the November election by returning Mr. Trump to the White House.
Some described actions they hoped Mr. Trump would take if re-elected — actions that would defy the democratic system. “When Trump does get back in there, he’ll need to get rid of the F.B.I., get rid of the C.I.A., get rid of the Department of Justice,” Mr. Clendenen, the barber in rural California, who belongs to a local militia group, said. “When this is all said and done, I suspect this judge will be tried and found guilty of several crimes, including treason, no doubt.”
In Boynton Beach, Fla., Nick Laudano, 54, described Mr. Trump, not the courts, as the last stand between the deep state and the people. “I’d love to see some justice served the next four years when we get Trump back in power,” he said.
Others said they saw flaws in Mr. Trump but still believed he was the solution to preserving democracy.
Richard Steele, 82, a pastor and retired building contractor in Dalton, Ga., which is in the district of Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene, a far-right House member and Trump loyalist, praised the former president as a “gentleman” who does not flaunt his wealth, and an “honest man” — despite the thousands of documented lies or misleading claims he has made over the years. Mr. Trump, he said, was cloaked in “Godly armor.”
“I figured they’d get him for something,” Mr. Steele said, referring to the Democrats. “He’ll come out on top. He’s smarter than they are. Seriously.”
Wayne Wolf, 67, a retired stockbroker who was having breakfast in Dalton, said that the verdict made a mockery of democracy. Part of his suspicion stemmed from the fact that the charges seemed so difficult to explain in plain language.
“Can you actually tell me what he got convicted of?” he said. “Can anybody tell me that?”
Debbie Puryear, 63, a colon hydrotherapist at a business in Dalton that also offers massage therapy, vitamins, and CBD products, said that she had given $30 to Mr. Trump’s campaign on Thursday night, soon after the verdicts were announced.
But the only real redress for people like her, she said, was to go to the polls in November. “Well, we’re definitely going to have to vote, and quit being scared that it’s going to be rigged,” she said, referencing Mr. Trump’s baseless claims that Democrats manipulated the voting system to keep him from winning in 2020 and will try to do so again.
She added: “I don’t think they’re going to succeed this time. Too many people woke up to what’s going on.”
Emily Cochrane, Nicole Danna, J. David Goodman, Shawn Hubler, Jenna Russell Edgar Sandoval, and Jonathan Wolfe contributed reporting.
Elizabeth Dias is The Times’s national religion correspondent, covering faith, politics, and values. More about Elizabeth Dias
In Atlanta, Richard Fausset writes about the American South, focusing on politics, culture, race, poverty, and criminal justice. More about Richard Fausset
Guilty Verdict: Donald Trump was convicted on all 34 counts of falsifying records to cover up a sex scandal that threatened his bid for the White House in 2016, making him the first American president to be declared a felon.
What Happens Next: Trump’s sentencing hearing on July 11 will trigger a long and winding appeals process, though he has few ways to overturn the decision.
Reactions: Trump’s conviction reverberated quickly across the country and around the world. Here’s what voters, New Yorkers, Republicans, Trump supporters, and President Biden had to say.
The Presidential Race: The political fallout of Trump’s conviction is far from certain, but the verdict will test America’s traditions, legal institutions, and ability to hold an election under historic partisan tension.
Making the Case: Over six weeks and the testimony of 20 witnesses, the Manhattan district attorney’s office wove a sprawling story of election interference and falsified business records.
Legal Luck Runs Out: The four criminal cases that threatened Trump’s freedom had been stumbling along, pleasing his advisers. Then his good fortune expired.
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