Donald Trump revealed how is family has been handling his conviction and shared he is prepared to face his sentencing in a new interview.
A New York jury found the former president guilty of all 34 counts of falsifying hush money payments to porn star Stormy Daniels on Thursday and he will be sentenced on July 11 where he faces up to four years in jail.
Over the course of the five week trial, his youngest son Barron and wife Melania Trump were noticeably absent from the courtroom.
In an interview with Fox & Friends Weekend, the ex-president shared the trial and verdict was difficult for his family.
‘It’s tougher, I think it’s probably in many ways it’s tougher on my family than it is on me,’ Trump said.
‘I have a wonderful wife who has to listen to this stuff all the time,’ he said. ‘I think it’s very hard for her, you know she has to read all this c**p.’
Trump said his 18-year-old son Barron, who recently graduated from the Oxbridge Academy, has focusing on his future.
‘He’s amazing. He’s tall, good looking, he’s a very good student. He’s applied to colleges and gets into everywhere he goes, you know? He’s very sought after from the standpoint, he’s a very smart guy,’ the ex-president said.
‘He’s a very tall guy and he’s a great kid. He’s cool. He’s pretty cool, I’ll tell you.’
Trump’s legal team is expected to appeal, but the unprecedented conviction sets off a process that all convicted criminals face within the Manhattan criminal court system.
During the five week long trial, prosecutors told of a plot by Trump to ‘corrupt’ the 2016 election by hiding a $130,000 hush money payment by his ‘fixer’ Michael Cohen to porn star Stormy Daniels.
Daniels alleged that she and Trump had sex a decade earlier, which he has denied.
The case featured explosive evidence by Daniels and lifted the lid on the ‘catch and kill’ practices of the National Enquirer tabloid, which bought stories that could be damaging to Trump and suppressed them.
But the actual criminal charges concern something more prosaic – the reimbursements Trump signed for Cohen for the payment.
The reimbursements, paid by Trump in monthly installments, were recorded as being for legal expenses.
Prosecutors say that was a fraudulent label designed to conceal the purpose of the hush money transaction and to illicitly interfere in the 2016 election.
Defense lawyers argued that Cohen actually did substantive legal work for Trump and his family and was paid for it.
Sentencing will kickoff a 30-day clock for the former president to file an appeal – a lengthy process that some legal experts said will be an uphill battle for Trump.
‘I did absolutely nothing wrong,’ Trump said. ‘I paid a legal expense and they say that’s a fraud.’
‘It was a tough venue. We tried to get out of the venue, we tried to get out of the judge, we tried to get out of both, wouldn’t even think about it. We had probably maybe the worst area in the whole country for me.’
‘But the good news is that I think we’ve set a record beyond all records for fundraising,’ he said.
The former president maintained his innocence but said he is prepared to face his sentencing.
‘I’m okay with it. Don’t beg for anything, it’s just the way it is,’ he said.
On the possibility he could go to jail, he said: ‘I’m not sure the public would stand for it. I think it’d be tough for the public to take, at a certain point, there’s a breaking point.
Trump supporters have called for murder in the wake of his criminal conviction, with some saying was ‘time to start capping [shooting] some Lefties’ and suggested that ‘somebody should take care of’ the judge who presided over the case.
Others have shared pictures of upside down American flags – a symbol used by insurrectionists at the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021 – prompting many to wondering if a similar event will occur when he is sentenced.