Trump warns of 'breaking point' for Americans if imprisoned

By Susan Heavey

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Donald Trump said on Sunday he would accept home confinement or prison time after his historic conviction on criminal charges by a New York jury last week, but that would be difficult for him to accept. audience.

Trump is scheduled to be sentenced on July 11, four days before Republicans meet to formally choose their presidential nominee to take on Democratic President Joe Biden in the November election.

Prison sentences are rare for people convicted in New York state of falsifying business records, the charge against Trump, the Republican presidential nominee, during his trial. The maximum penalty for such a charge is four years' imprisonment.

“I'm not sure the public would stand for it,” the former president told Fox News of a possible prison sentence.

“I think it would be difficult for the public to accept. You know, at some point there is a breaking point.”

Trump vowed to appeal his conviction by the New York jury, which found him guilty of 34 counts of falsifying documents to hide a payment to silence a porn star before the election from 2016.

To succeed on appeal, Trump, 77, must show that Judge Juan Merchan made significant errors in overseeing the trial.

His lawyers said they plan to take the case to the Supreme Court. On Sunday, Trump, who attempted to disqualify Merchan from the case, repeated allegations of bias by the judge and the prosecutor who prosecuted the case.

“The Supreme Court of the United States MUST DECIDE!” Trump wrote on social media.

Trump plans to appeal after his July 11 sentencing date, his lawyers say. If an appeal to the New York state courts fails, he could appeal to the Supreme Court. Trump's lawyers are expected to convince at least four of the court's nine justices to hear his case.

To prevail, Trump would then have to demonstrate that the prosecution violated his federal constitutional rights and that his legal team followed proper procedures during the early stages of his legal proceedings.

“SPEAK AGAINST THIS”

Trump used his conviction to ramp up his fundraising efforts, but did not seek to mobilize his supporters, unlike his comments protesting his 2020 defeat to Biden, which were followed by a deadly attack from his supporters on January 6, 2021 against the American president. US Capitol.

When asked what Trump supporters should do if he were imprisoned, Republican National Committee co-chair Lara Trump told CNN: “Well, they're going to do what they've done since the beginning, that is to say remaining calm and protesting in front of the polls. November 5. There is nothing you can do but make your voice heard loud and clear and oppose this. »

Some Trump supporters hung upside-down American flags after the verdict. The inverted flag has been a symbol of distress or protest in America for over 200 years.

At least one Democratic lawmaker expressed concern Sunday that Trump supporters might react violently to his conviction.

“Her base is listening to her. They're not listening to Lara Trump. And it's another dangerous call for violence,” Democratic U.S. Rep. Adam Schiff told CNN.

But U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson, a Trump ally, said any response must be legal.

“We are the party of the rule of law. Chaos is not a conservative value. We must fight back and we will do so with everything in our power. But we do it within the confines of the state of right,” Johnson told Fox News Sunday. “.

The issue is unlikely to be resolved before the presidential election in November, when he will seek to retake the White House from Biden. Opinion polls show a tight race between the two men and suggest his conviction could hurt him with some Republican and independent voters.

Trump still faces three other criminal cases, including two involving alleged efforts to overturn his 2020 defeat, although they are unlikely to be tried or concluded before the election. He denies any wrongdoing in all cases and has called the accusations a Democratic plot to prevent him from competing.

Biden sought to defend the nation's justice system, saying it was “reckless” and “dangerous” to call the verdict “rigged.” The US Department of Justice denies any political interference.

(Reporting by Susan Heavey, Jasper Ward, Moira Warburton and David Brunnstrom; additional reporting by Nathan Layne; editing by Nick Zieminski and Stephen Coates)