Despite conviction, Donald Trump vows to fight on

NEW YORK - Beginning life as a presidential candidate with a criminal conviction, Donald Trump vowed Friday to move forward by trying to convince voters his recently-completed hush money trial was a political plot.

“If they can do this to me, they can do this to anyone," the presumptive 2024 Republican White House nominee said during a news conference at Trump Tower.

Supporters who attended the news conference applauded at times, especially when he vowed to continue campaigning for president aggressively. His opponents, who were confined to a different street, carried signs that said “loser.” They also periodically chanted “guilty! Guilty! Guilty.”

Trump vowed to appeal the verdict. He argued that he sought to change the judge, change the venue where the trial was held and to have witnesses, except the judge put restrictions on their testimony.

“We’re going to be appealing this scam,” Trump said. “The judge was a tyrant.”

Trump claims fundraising prowess shows verdict 'backfired'

Trump began the event by citing some of the top-tier 2024 campaign issues in his race against President Joe Biden, like immigration and inflation, before veering into complaints about his trial, the judge that oversaw the case, and the gag order against him.

“No one’s ever seen anything like it,” Trump said. “It was very unfair.”

Trump claimed that his campaign raised $39 million − mostly from small donors − during the 10 hour period after the verdict was announced.

“So far, I guess it’s backfired,” Trump said to applause.

The presumptive Republican nominee also rambled on at length to deny that hush money payments to adult film actress Stormy Daniels amounted to an illegal effort to influence the 2016 presidential election. His comments were filled with falsehoods and distortions regarding the conduct of the trial that ended with a 34-count felony conviction.

“Everybody says there is no crime here,” the former president said at one point, ignoring the twelve jurors who on Thursday found exactly that through their verdict.

Trump wanted to testify but worried about prosecution questions

Trump said he “would have loved to testify,” despite the risk of perjury.

“I wanted to testify. The theory is you never testify – anybody,” Trump said. “If it were George Washington, don’t testify because they’ll get you something that’s slightly wrong and get you for perjury.”

But Trump said Judge Juan Merchan would have allowed questions about other legal entanglements. Trump was ordered to pay more than $500 million in a pair of civil lawsuits last year, after being found liable for defaming columnist E. Jean Carroll when he denied her allegation of a sexual assault and for exaggerating the value of his real estate. Trump is appealing both judgments.

“The judge allowed them to go into everything I was ever involved in,” Trump said. “Was he a bad boy here? Was he a bad boy there? My lawyer said what do you need to go through it.”

Specifically going after Merchan, Trump complained of unfairness and witnesses who were willing to testify on his behalf but didn't get the green light to do so.

“You saw what happened to some of the witnesses that were on our side," Trump said. "They were literally crucified by this man, who looks like an angel but he’s really a devil."

Trump spoke publicly as pollsters, aides and opponents began to assess how the guilty verdict might affect the fall election. To form, Trump predicted voter backlash against the “rigged” trial that would benefit him.

“The people understand it,” he said.

Pollster and political analysts said the electorate is just now absorbing Trump's move from the first indicted ex-president to the first convicted ex-president.

"With an election that’s a dead heat in every possible way, there is absolutely no way of knowing right now," said pollster Frank Luntz. "And anyone who tells you otherwise is full of it."

Trump verdict proves 'no one is above the law': Biden campaign

Michael Tyler, the Biden campaign's communications director, said Thursday that the Trump guilty verdict proves that “no one is above the law."

In another statement Friday after Trump's press event ended, Tyler added: "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.”

The Trump campaign claimed it raised $34.8 million donors in the hours since the verdict - “nearly double the biggest day ever recorded for the Trump campaign on the WinRed platform,” the campaign said in a statement.

Trump warmed up for the news conference by protesting the verdict on social media.

“I did nothing wrong, and frankly, there was nothing done wrong,” Trump said in a post on Truth Social, one of many fundraising pitches that carried lines like this: “THE DARKEST DAY IN AMERICAN HISTORY. The jury found me GUILTY! Disgusting...”

In all, Trump on Friday spoke for a little more than 33 minutes. He concluded the press conference by taking no questions from the press.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Despite conviction, Donald Trump vows to fight on