The former president said that the conviction has been ’very hard’ for his wife, former first lady Melania Trump.
Former President Donald Trump on Sunday revealed that his criminal trial and later conviction has been “very hard” for his wife, former first lady Melania Trump.
While several of the former president’s family members showed up at the six-week trial in Manhattan, the former first lady did not make any appearances. He was convicted on May 30 of falsifying business records for a payment plan meant to cover up allegations made about him during the 2016 election, which he has denied and pleaded not guilty.
In an interview that was aired Sunday on Fox News, President Trump said he is “fine” after the conviction, but “it’s very hard for her,” referring to Melania Trump.
“It’s tougher, I think it’s probably in many ways, it’s tougher on my family than it is on me,” he added.
When asked about how Mrs. Trump is doing, he responded: “She’s fine, but I think it’s very hard for her. I mean, she’s fine. But it’s, you know, she has to read all this [nonsense].”
The former first lady has not issued a public comment about President Trump’s conviction last week. A number of his family members, including sons Eric and Donald Jr., have criticized the trial.
Earlier this month, President Trump and the former first lady appeared at the graduation ceremony for their son, Barron, in Palm Beach, Florida. The judge overseeing the case, Justice Juan Merchan, granted him a day off from the trial to attend the event.
After the verdict, President Trump remains free on his own recognizance but will have to show up in court on July 11 for his sentencing date, coming about four days before the start of the Republican National Convention, where he is likely to be officially nominated as the Republican Party’s choice for president. Incarceration would not prevent President Trump from campaigning, or taking office if he were to win during the November election. He also will not be jailed ahead of his sentencing.
After two days of deliberation, a jury of New Yorkers found President Trump guilty of all 34 criminal counts he faced for falsifying documents to cover up payments to Stormy Daniels in the final days of his successful 2016 campaign. The former president pleaded not guilty, denied allegations from Ms. Daniels about an affair, and said the payments were standard legal expenses.
Falsifying business documents is normally a misdemeanor in New York, but prosecutors in District Attorney Bragg’s office elevated the case to a felony on grounds that President Trump was concealing an illegal campaign contribution. The former president was not charged with any crimes related to the alleged illegal, election-related contributions.
In a news conference the day after the trial ended, President Trump vowed to appeal the verdict and lambasted Justice Merchan as well as the Manhattan District Attorney’s office, who brought the case against him.
“If they can do this to me, they can do this to anyone,” he said. “These are bad people … these are sick people.”
“This is a scam. This is a rigged trial … this is a rigged judge,” President Trump said, while he added that he still cannot issue a response to certain witnesses due to Justice Merchan’s gag order.
Referring to allegations that were made by pornographic performer Stormy Daniels about a 2006 affair at the center of the case, President Trump said that “nothing happened … and they know it.”
“It had nothing to do with a case, but it had to do with politics,” President Trump said, likely referring to the Daniels testimony.
The Biden campaign responded to President Trump’s speech, saying that the presumed GOP nominee is “consumed by his own thirst for revenge and retribution.”
“America just witnessed a confused, desperate, and defeated Donald Trump ramble about his own personal grievances and lie about the American justice system, leaving anyone watching with one obvious conclusion: This man cannot be president of the United States,” Biden-Harris 2024 Communications Director Michael Tyler said in a statement.
Reuters contributed to this report.