ATLANTA — There's no shortage of reaction to a history-making event. Such was the case Thursday, as a New York jury convicted former President Donald Trump on 34 felony counts of falsifying business records.
11Alive caught up with Atlanta voter Horace Smith outside the airport. Smith said he voted for Trump in 2020 and thought the trial and verdict were both unfair.
“There’s a lot of felons in America," Smith said. "Just because you’re a felon doesn’t mean you shouldn’t have an opportunity. That shouldn’t decide your fate."
Keith Ballard, another Atlanta voter, doesn't think Trump should be able to run for president now that he's been convicted. However, a convicted felon is able to run for the White House even though they may not be able to vote.
"This is the United States of America," Ballard said. "If you’re found guilty, you go to jail. It’s just that simple. We don’t need a crook in office. We need a president.”
Emory University political science professor Dr. Andra Gillespie said the conviction will probably not be too much to sway voters, many of whom have already made up their minds on who they will vote for in November.
"I don’t think we, as a country, have really grappled with what it means to have a convicted felon be a candidate of one of the two major parties for president," Gillespie said. "This is about how voters in the middle, how independent voters, reluctant Republican voters now think about this particular issue."
As President Biden and former President Trump get set to debate in just four weeks in Atlanta, GOP strategist Brian Robinson said Biden has to avoid gloating to avoid the appearance of corruption.
“President Biden has to be careful," Robinson said. "He can’t do a victory dance, he can’t spike the football, because it looks like this is in fact partisan lawfare, that the president is using his powers of executive agency to go after a political enemy. You're going to see Donald Trump, however, go on offense, being a martyr, being persecuted, being treated unfairly."
Robinson said the trial would have repercussions on every American. Trump's sentencing is set for July 11, just a few days before the Republican National Convention. He noted that the decision of 12 jurors in a Manhattan courtroom likely would not impact Republican support for Trump nationwide.
"This is a major day in American history. We’ve never seen this before," Robinson said. "We’ve never had a former president or sitting president convicted of a felony. I think there’s a lot of uncertainty right now. But even Republicans who have their differences with Trump are rallying to the flag here, because they see this as lawfare, as persecution and as partisan.”
Georgia Governor Brian Kemp weighed in on X shortly following the conviction, saying: "From the beginning, this prosecution and trial have been driven by partisan politics. Despite today’s events, the ultimate verdict is up to the American people on November 5th when they will have a clear choice on the future of our country."
Republican fundraising sites crashed Thursday due to an overload of donations. Georgia GOP chair Josh McKoon said the party was turning the verdict into a victory. He denounced the impetus of the trial and worries this verdict set a political precedent.
"This is not a right left thing, a Democrat Republican thing, it's not a Donald Trump thing," McKoon said. "It's do we want to have a country where we all have confidence in the criminal justice system? If we lose the feeling we can get a fair shake in court, it really means some very dark days ahead for our country.”
McKoon said this verdict only fortifies Trump's support among his base. He said he was disappointed but not surprised by the jury's decision and called the trial's outcome a "disappointing and sad day for Americans."
Supporters and opponents will ultimately have the final say on Trump's political future in November.
Don Kennedy, a Gainesville voter, believes it's time for change on both sides of the aisle regarding which candidates they present for president. He told 11Alive he'd rather focus on issues like the economy that everyday Americans care about.
"I think it’s a travesty for the country of what’s taken place," Kennedy said. "It does matter from a morality standpoint, it matters to me. It’s not so much about Trump as it is about using a court system for what they did. I think it’s not going to sway the election one way or the other.”