Donald Trump unleashed the full force of his fury on Friday at the judge, prosecutors and witnesses who made him the first former president to be found guilty at a criminal trial.
Yet among Republicans, the overwhelmingly feeling was sadness rather than anger.
An exclusive J.L. Partners poll for DailyMail.com asked 403 likely voters to describe their emotional reaction to the verdict in Trump’s hush money trial.
‘Sad,’ was the most mentioned word followed by ‘sadness,’ ‘angry,’ and ‘disappointed.’
‘I just can’t believe they found him guilty,’ said a 47-year-old Republican woman from Arizona, one of the critical swing states. ‘There are more important things to worry about right now.’
Democrats, unsurprisingly, welcomed the verdict. ‘Happy, happiness, relief, joy, elation,’ dominated their word cloud of results.
Overall, the responses mirror a nation divided by politics.
But they also show Trump could benefit from a bump in favorability. The results showed that 22 percent of respondents said they viewed him more favorably, while 16 percent said they saw him less favorably.
Drill into the reasoning and there are a range of views that explain that snapshot finding.
‘Our country should be embarrassed at how he was treated as president,’ said female retail supervisor from Ohio, who voted Trump in 2020.
And for every Republican who expressed anger there were others who spoke in more measured tones, or who voiced embarrassment.
‘For a Republican like myself it’s all very embarrassing. It’s like finding out your sister is a prostitute,’ said a retired electrician from North Carolina.
‘I feel that it was an untimely chain of events that were unfortunate and were brought on due to his campaigning for reelection,’ said a 41-year-old independent voter, who also plumped for Trump last time around.
James Johnson, co-founder of J.L. Partners which conducted the survey, said it was notable that sadness came ahead of fury among Republicans.
‘People fearing an angry surge of Trump voters onto the streets or political violence have misunderstood who the vast majority of Trump voters are,’ he said.
‘Most of his voters are not reacting with anger but sadness, at a system they feel is rigged against the former president.
‘Grief can be a powerful thing though, and it is likely to rally support for Trump with his base.’
The crowd that gathered outside the Manhattan courthouse in support of Trump on Thursday looked as if it was mourning. Some burst into tears as the verdict was announced before the gathering descended into gloomy silence.
The opposing crowd expressed glee.
‘No one is above the law no matter who you are that’s my view,’ said a stay-at-home mother in Pennsylvania.
A 48-year-old general contractor in Ohio said: ‘I believe Donald Trump will continue to make a mockery of the American legal and political systems. He’s a clown with a captivated audience.’
Last year Trump went up in the polls with every new criminal indictment.
And his Fulton County, Georgia, mugshot became a key part of fundraising and merchandise pushes.
In the days leading up the verdict, Trump’s campaign aide and allies began preparing the ground for a guilty finding.
They repeatedly denounced the hush money prosecution as political and as a ‘kangaroo court.’
When it finally came on Thursday evening, it triggered a fundraising bonanza.
The Trump campaign said it raised nearly double its record daily haul in the hours after the jury delivered its verdict.
‘From just minutes after the sham trial verdict was announced, our digital fundraising system was overwhelmed with support, and despite temporary delays online because of the amount of traffic, President Trump raised $34.8 million dollars from small dollar donors,’ said Chris LaCivita and Susie Wiles, Trump Campaign senior advisers.