Voter reactions: Trump trial verdict isn’t doing much to change these voters’ choices for 2024

CNN
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Some things take time to assimilate. But don’t expect Donald Trump’s committed voters to suddenly waver because their candidate is now a convicted felon.

“Just an abuse of the justice system,” said Billy Pierce, a semi-retired consultant and Trump supporter in Hartsville, South Carolina, shortly after the former president was found guilty of all 34 counts of falsifying business records in his secret trial in Manhattan. . “Biden and the Democrats cannot win the 2024 elections in the polls, so they use Trump’s accusation to try to keep him out of office. This verdict will not be sustained through appeals,” he added, repeating Trump’s false claims about President Joe Biden being behind the New York indictment.

Andrew Konchek, a commercial fisherman and Trump supporter in New Hampshire, responded to the verdict with sarcastic references to former President Bill Clinton’s personal scandals. “There is no direct evidence and from whom, Cohen? Who is a habitual liar and got kicked out? I smell bullshit,” he added, referring to the prosecution’s star witness, former Trump fixer Michael Cohen.

Another Trump supporter in New Hampshire, Debbie Katsanos, sent a text message during jury deliberations. “I don’t see any crime,” she said. “Certainly at a criminal level. I’m sorry to say that I cannot trust the judicial system when it is used in a political way. …Yes, no one is above the law, when a law is broken they must be held accountable. I’m just not seeing that in this case.”

Iowa Trump supporter Chris Mudd, who owns a solar energy company, said his support for the former president is solid.

“I think the verdict is bad for America,” Mudd said in a text. “I can’t believe this is happening in this country.”

Betsy Sarcone voted for Nikki Haley in the Iowa caucuses and late last year said she would vote for Biden if the result was a rematch between Biden and Trump. But she has changed dramatically since the caucuses.

“I have been following this sideshow closely,” she said after the jury verdict that gave Trump a place in history as the first former president or presumptive party nominee convicted of a crime. “This does not affect my plans to vote Republican. I don’t even like Donald Trump and this was a witch hunt, invented crimes on the part of the judge and prosecutor. It will never be subject to appeal. …Actually, I don’t think it will hurt him. People are so fed up with sideshows to distract/avoid/away people from the real problems in this country. To be clear, I’m still no fan of Trump, but it’s pretty clear that these cases are politically motivated.”

Pierce, Konchek, Sarcone and Katsanos are all participating in a CNN project to follow the 2024 elections through the eyes and experiences of voters who live in key battlegrounds or are part of key voting blocs. We’ll check back as news of the historic 34-count conviction is received and as the former president prepares to be sentenced in July – days before he is officially nominated for president at the Republican National Convention.

But our conversations before and during the trial were enlightening: The overwhelming majority of Trump supporters in our voter groups viewed the cases against the former president – ​​especially the one in Manhattan – as politically motivated. (The former president has pleaded not guilty in this and three other upcoming criminal cases.) Even many Republicans who are not fans of Trump share the view that he is being unfairly targeted. Biden supporters, on the other hand, saw the verdictIt is while Trump is finally being held accountable for what they see as a lifetime of cheating and lies.

Matt Vrahiotes, a conservative Christian who runs a fruit winery in Hall County, Georgia, was troubled by the allegations in the Manhattan case: falsifying business records to hide secret payments to an adult film star, allegedly to help the Trump campaign in 2016.

“I mean, it seems crazy, it seems like an irresponsible person, an irresponsible thing to do,” Vrahiotes said in April. “But there are a lot of things going on with both candidates, and a lot of things that are morally questionable for both of them, so it’s very difficult for me to say, oh, I don’t like a candidate because of what’s going on. , versus promoting another. You know, you have to let the trial proceed, you have to let the judge decide what is right and what is wrong, and I will go from there.”

Jan Gardner, a Trump supporter who lives in the Atlanta suburb of Dunwoody, said before the verdict that he has lost faith in the justice system.

“Do we feel like some of the things that happen, there’s a double standard?” Gardner asked, mentioning Hillary Clinton, who, in her opinion, was treated differently than Trump. “I have doubts about… how much honesty and how much power can buy you things.”

Republican and likely Trump voter Devin McIver said he did not follow the trial closely but would not invest “time or energy” thinking about the possibility of Trump being found guilty, writing in a text that he believes he is “better off when Trump was president.” ”

We hear the injustice argument a lot on our travels, even from Republicans who are critical of Trump.

Linda Rooney is a supporter of Haley from Media, Pennsylvania, and is struggling to decide whether to reluctantly vote for Trump or write to the former South Carolina governor or someone else.

Rooney has “mixed feelings” about Trump’s conviction, telling us he doesn’t think the case has “merit” but saying he “would love to see him behind bars except for one of the many other things he’s done.” Like the White House records or January 6.”

She said she hoped that with conviction, Trump would “withdraw from the race on his own now and let someone more suitable run — like Nikki Haley.” But she agreed: “I don’t think it’s Donald Trump’s responsibility to give up.”

Likewise, fellow Pennsylvania voter Irma Fralic, who voted for Haley in the primary, sees the politics behind the Manhattan case.

“The current trial in New York is completely political,” Fralic told us last week at his home in Montgomery County. “I looked briefly at some of this stuff and it just doesn’t hold up.”

Former Trump voter Joan London had a mixed opinion about the convictions.

She was a Republican for more than 40 years, changing her registration to independent after voting for Haley in the April Pennsylvania primary. She left the Republican Party because of Trump.

London, a lawyer, said she expected a “more mixed verdict” because “President Trump did not sign all of the checks in question and Michael Cohen’s history of lying and stealing.”

Still, London said: “This verdict has no impact on my voting plans. There are no plans yet to vote for Trump or Biden.”

Celebration and some caution among Biden voters

Darrell Ann Murphy offered a typical reaction from Biden supporters in our voter groups.

“Wow! A great day,” said Murphy, who lives in Northampton County, Pennsylvania. “Finally he was found guilty!! Friends texting me like crazy, everyone happy. I talk to a lot of Biden voters.”

Pat Levin, another Biden voter in Northampton County, said of the verdict: “It supports and reinforces that I believe in the rule of law. He supports my attitude toward the limits of executive power. This reinforces my belief in the principles of democracy. They have a strong judicial system. I am immensely grateful to this jury and their seriousness of purpose.”

David Moore is a registered Republican from Nogales, Arizona, but plans to vote for Biden because he cannot support Trump.

He responded to the verdict with a question: “Can he still run if it’s on appeal?”

Yes, the conviction does not prevent Trump from running.

“I’m not counting chickens,” Moore said. “A lot of people around me seem really happy about it. I’m curious to see how this all plays out.”

Jade Gray, a recent graduate of the University of Michigan, was co-president of College Democrats on campus. “From the minute he was elected, it was historic for all the wrong reasons,” she said of Trump. “Being the first president to be convicted solidifies that legacy. This is what responsibility looks like. I know it’s been said a lot, but no one is above the law and Trump has repeatedly shown himself to be a dishonest and untrustworthy person.”

Nanette Mees, a Republican but Trump critic who lives in suburban Loudon County, Virginia, had this to say: “Personally, I am thrilled that he was found guilty and pray that there will be no major riots because of his followers.”

And Joanna Brooks, a black voter who runs a yoga studio in suburban Milwaukee, described herself as “shocked but happy. (…) It’s bizarre to me that this doesn’t necessarily have an impact on his run for president. He will appeal and play the victim and his supporters will probably love him even more.”