In a US first, a former president has become a convicted criminal. A Manhattan jury found Donald Trump guilty on 34 counts of falsifying business records, in a ruling perfectly timed for the Australian news cycle.
The verdict landed a little before 8am AEST, and many newsrooms both here and in the US busted out screamer headlines (the extra large font used for the biggest news stories). “Trump found guilty” yelled The Sydney Morning Herald, while both The New York Times and The Washington Post used the identically worded “Trump guilty on all counts”.
In the frenzy following the verdict, some silliness inevitably followed. The Australian reacted to the news with a headline quoting a “furious” Trump claiming “I’m innocent”.
And ABC News apparently shared a 2021 tweet from US President Joe Biden saying “No-one should be above the law. Today’s verdict sends that message, but it is not enough”. It appears that tweet was actually related to the verdict in the trial for the murder of George Floyd. Oops. In Aunty’s defence, the statement the Biden camp actually issued after the Trump verdict also said “no-one is above the law”.
In the US, outlets like the Huffington Post competed for attention with the word “guilty” written in all-caps 34 times, while The Daily Beast issued a story with the headline: “Trump After Verdict: Rigged, Rigged, Rigged, Rigged, Etc.”
Trump’s allies in the US media reacted with indignation to the news. Sacked Fox News anchor-turned-freelancer Tucker Carlson tweeted: “Import the Third World, become the Third World. That’s what we just saw. This won’t stop Trump. He’ll win the election if he’s not killed first. But it does mark the end of the fairest justice system in the world. Anyone who defends this verdict is a danger to you and your family.”
In the face of such hyperventilating, it’s worth remembering that while this was a historic moment in the US, it’s actually not that uncommon to indict and convict former heads of state. As Foreign Policy reported last year, at least 78 leaders in 53 democratic or semi-democratic countries have been indicted since the year 2000. Notable examples of countries that have convicted former leaders include Argentina, Italy, South Korea, and France.
Trump is scheduled for sentencing on July 11, which is just days before Republicans are set to select him as the party’s presidential nominee. Since Trump’s guilty convictions included the crime of falsifying business records, a felony, he theoretically risks up to four years in prison, but it remains to be seen what the punishment will be.
Trump has several options for appeal, and it would be very surprising if he didn’t at least try.
He will still be eligible to run for president, and to vote for himself in November, assuming he does so in Florida and stays out of prison.
