Ivanka Trump has spoken out in support of her father, Donald Trump, following his conviction in the highly publicised hush money trial.
On Thursday (May 30), the 77-year-old former President of the United States was found guilty on all 34 felony counts related to the hush money scandal.
Trump faced charges of business fraud connected to $130,000 in hush money payments made to former adult film actress Stormy Daniels. These payments were reportedly arranged by Trump’s former lawyer, Michael Cohen, to ensure Daniels’ silence about her alleged affair with Trump before the 2016 election.
After the conviction, Ivanka broke her silence with a brief, heartfelt message on her Instagram story. The 42-year-old former advisor to Trump posted a childhood photo of herself sitting on her father’s lap, captioning it with “I love you Dad,” followed by a heart emoji.
Her brother, Donald Trump Jr., also came to their father’s defence, blaming political adversaries for the conviction. “The Democrats have succeeded in their years-long attempt to turn America into a third-world s***hole,” he said in a statement to ABC News. Additionally, Trump’s middle son, Eric Trump, expressed his belief that the conviction would ultimately benefit his father’s political campaign. “May 30th, 2024 might be remembered as the day Donald J. Trump won the 2024 Presidential Election,” he wrote on X (formerly Twitter).
This conviction marks a historic moment as Trump becomes the first president in US history to be criminally tried and convicted of felony crimes. According to The Guardian, Trump left the courtroom after the verdict and criticised the trial as “rigged” and “disgraceful.”
Trump addressed the media, asserting that the “real verdict is going to be November 5 by the people,” alluding to the upcoming presidential election. He maintained his innocence, stating, “They know what happened here, and everybody knows what happened here.” Trump accused President Joe Biden and his administration of orchestrating a “rigged” system to target political opponents, claiming they are attempting to “wound or hurt a political opponent.” He concluded by saying, “this is long from over,” before departing.
Meanwhile, the Biden-Harris campaign released a statement emphasising that “nobody is above the law,” as reported by CBS News. The statement continued, “There is still only one way to keep Donald Trump out of the Oval Office: at the ballot box. Convicted felon or not, Trump will be the Republican nominee for president.”
The statement warned of the threat Trump poses to democracy, describing his campaign as “increasingly unhinged” and vengeful, with intentions to become a dictator and terminate the Constitution to regain power. They concluded, “A second Trump term means chaos, ripping away Americans’ freedoms and fomenting political violence – and the American people will reject it this November.”
