Former President Donald Trump exits the courtroom at Manhattan criminal court during jury deliberations in his criminal hush money trial in New York, Thursday, May 30, 2024. on 34 felonies in his New York hush money case swiftly sparked intense divisions over the justice system and added fuel to what was already an intense election featuring two of the most unpopular presidents in American history.
“Nov. 5 is going to be the most important day in the history of our country,” Trump said Friday morning. There was an immediate noticeable impact with Republican organizations and Trump’s campaign raising significant sums in the immediate hours after the announcement of the conviction. Trump’s campaign announced a $35 million fundraising haul after the guilty verdict.
Biden weighed in on the conviction for the first time on Friday and is more likely to lean into it as the campaign wears on and he is on a debate stage with Trump next month. There is limited polling data in the immediate aftermath of Trump’s conviction about how it will change attitudes toward the former president, and even still it is highly uncertain how people will react to a totally unprecedented event. A Marist poll released Thursday morning found that 67% of voters said a conviction wouldn’t make a difference for them in November, while 76% said they would not vote differently if Trump was found not guilty.if he were to be convicted of a felony.