Twelve jurors took more than nine hours to convict former President Donald Trump of 34 felony counts of falsifying company records.
A handful of Trump’s future running mates took less than nine minutes to condemn the verdict.
The series of “guilty” lectures began Thursday at 5:06 PM in Judge Juan Merchan‘s courtroom in New York. At 5:12 p.m., South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem rushed online to defend Trump.
“Hugely conflicted, Biden donor and liberal judge + stacked jury with unconstitutional jury instructions + radical left prosecutor = wrongful conviction,” Noem, one of those Trump is said to be considering as a vice presidential candidate, posted on X. “No doubt Trump will be quick be right, as the case will of course be overturned on appeal.”
Another contender, Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, weighed in on X a minute later.
“The verdict in New York is a complete travesty that makes a mockery of our justice system,” he wrote, adding insults against Merchan and a “jury from the most liberal county in America.”
Then at 5:14 p.m. came Senator JD Vance of Ohio, who on the same social media platform called the verdict “a disgrace to the rule of law and our Constitution.”
It was a fast and furious — and entirely unsurprising — political coda to a Trump lawsuit that had also turned into an unofficial audition stage for his potential running mates. Several top prospects, including Vance and North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum, who was seen at the courthouse Thursday, showed up to offer support during the weekslong trial. Longer-term options, including Rep. Byron Donalds, R-Fla., and biotech entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy, also appeared in New York.
Vice-presidential contenders were also constantly on hand to defend him on TV — especially conservative and right-wing media like Fox News — and on social media.
Other responses from potential shortlists flooded in via social media within an hour of the verdict being read.
At 5:17 PM there was Donalds: “Donald Trump is innocent. To hell with what the jury said.
There was Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y., also at 5:17 p.m.: “Today’s verdict shows how corrupt, rigged and un-American the weaponized justice system has become under Joe Biden and the Democrats.”
Many of the statements reserved the harshest criticism for Merchan and Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg.
“The accuser is a politician who promised to get Trump,” Ramaswamy posted (at 5:20), referring to how Bragg had long promised to look into the case.
Two Arkansas Republicans, Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders and Sen. Tom Cotton, both checked in (both at 5:29) to decry a “politically motivated sham trial” and a “nakedly partisan judge,” respectively.
As they expressed their outrage, Ben Carson, Trump’s former Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, added his: “The justice system is weaponized to go after presidents for political gain. Imagine what they can do to you!”
Vance, who wrote a letter this week asking Attorney General Merrick Garland to open a criminal investigation into Merchan, took a second bite at the apple — and a second shot at the jurors — in a statement released by his Senate office ( at 5:30 PM). ).
“The partisan slant of this jury shows why we should litigate politics at the ballot box and not in the courtroom,” Vance said. “Ultimately, I am confident that the 2024 election will be decided by the American people, and not by corrupt judges and prosecutors.”
Most contenders followed up their posts with fundraising pleas on Trump’s behalf.
Burgum was relatively late to the party.
“This verdict is a travesty of justice,” he posted at 5:52. (Burgum also included a fundraising pitch from Trump.)
At 6:02 p.m., nearly an hour after the verdict, South Carolina Senator Tim Scott joined the fray by bashing the jury’s decision, as well as Bragg and Merchan, in a video.
“DA Bragg and the judge should be ashamed of themselves,” he said in the minute-long clip. “This is not just ridiculous. This actually undermines the confidence Americans have in the justice system. Incredible. Not credible.”
This article was originally published on NBCNews.com
