A Manhattan jury had rendered its verdict Thursday — Donald Trump, guilty on all counts. Yet, he is undeterred from his effort to reclaim the presidency in a rematch with Joe Biden.

“The public understands and understands what’s going on. This is a scam, this is a rigged trial,” Trump said at Trump Tower on Friday.


What You Need To Know

  • Former President Donald Trump was convicted of 34 counts of falsifying business records

  • The Trump campaign has raised more than $52 million following the verdict

  • President Biden cautioned against calling trial 'rigged'

It’s close and it may stay that way through November — felonies be damned.

“For most people, the decision already reinforces what they already think,” Lee Miringoff, director of the Marist College Poll, said.

Just days before the verdict was announced, Marist was polling registered voters around the country about the presidential election and asked how a conviction would affect their vote.

The results:

  • 67% of registered voters said it would make no difference to their vote if Trump is found guilty
  • 17% said they would be less likely to vote for him
  • 15% said they would be more likely to vote for him

“The kind of people right now who are saying they are less likely to vote for Trump, it’s some of the persuadable groups, it’s independent voters, it’s younger voters,” Miringoff said.

While Trump fumes in front of the cameras, his campaign tries to make the best of a bad situation — announcing on Friday a nearly $35 million fundraising haul after the verdict. Later in the evening, the campaign reported even more donations, totaling $52.8 million.

Republican strategist Chapin Fay said Trump’s airing of grievances is good for fundraising, but not enough to win.

“If he is litigating his conviction every day, and that’s the only thing he’s talking about, I think substantively the campaign will have a problem pulling off a victory that way,” Fay said. “But if he talks and makes this more about Joe Biden, then the conviction will matter less.”

Biden made his first public remarks on the verdict from the White House on Friday, speaking about the process instead of the politics.

“It’s reckless, it’s dangerous, and it’s irresponsible for anyone to say this was rigged just because they don’t like the verdict,” Biden said.

Meanwhile, Biden campaign communications director Michael Tyler put out a statement saying, “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.”