Meanwhile, fundraising continues to skyrocket for the Trump campaign.
Former President Donald Trump sat down for an interview with Fox & Friends after his historic guilty verdict and in an excerpt of the interview published June 2, he revealed he would be “OK” handling a prison sentence.
The interviewers noted the timing of the trial and how sentencing could take place July 11, days before the Republican National Convention where President Trump will be officially named the party’s candidate, and said a prison sentence could even come right before his nomination.
“I’m OK with it,” President Trump said.
“I saw one of my lawyers on television the other day saying, ‘Oh no, you don’t want to do that to the president,’‘ he added. ”I said, ’Don’t beg for anything.’”
He was likely referring to defense attorney Todd Blanche on a CNN appearance saying a 77-year-old man with President Trump’s record should “never” be sentenced to jail time.
On May 30, a New York City jury returned a guilty verdict on 34 counts of falsifying business records in the first degree, making President Trump the first former president convicted of a crime. He has announced he will appeal the case and believes there were many errors that can serve as a basis for overturning the conviction.
Asked about the possibility of house arrest, which would also take him off the campaign trail, President Trump said he didn’t think Americans would accept it.
“I’m not sure the public would stand for it,” he said.
“I think it would be hard for the public to take,” President Trump added. “At a certain point, there’s a breaking point.”
Public Sentiment
The response President Trump has received after the conviction suggests to him the public sees the case as a “scam,” he added.
“The good news is I think we’ve set a record beyond all records for fundraising—that’s like a poll,” he said. “People get it, it’s a scam.”
Within 24 hours of the guilty verdict, the campaign revealed a record-setting haul of nearly $53 million, with a third of the donors being first-time Trump donors.
