House Democrats cheered former President Trump’s conviction in the New York hush money case Thursday, hailing the guilty verdict as a victory for the justice system and proof that nobody — including an ex-commander in chief — is above the law.
Some liberals appeared giddy immediately following the reading of the verdict, expressing a sense of excitement that a 12-person jury found Trump guilty on all 34 counts of falsifying business records, a verdict that could lead to jail time for the former president.
“Hallelujah!!!” Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.) wrote on social platform X. “My predictions came true! I predicted three years ago at a speech with the Human Rights Campaign that Stormy Daniels would be the one to get Trump, my faith in the criminal justice system has been strengthened!”
“YES!” Rep. Steve Cohen (D-Tenn.) echoed on X, followed by a scales of justice and American flag emoji.
Rep. Mark Pocan (D-Wis.), a former chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, shared a GIF of late-night television host Seth Meyers saying “guilty as hell.”
Rep. Robert Garcia (D-Calif.), meanwhile, paid homage to the “lock her up” chant — a call for Hillary Clinton to be put behind bars — that used to inundate Trump rallies.
“How’s that chant go that he used to lead at rallies?” Garcia wrote on X.
Thursday’s guilty verdict — which followed roughly 11 hours of jury deliberations and weeks of witness testimony — makes Trump the first former U.S. president to be a convicted felon, etching his name in history books once again. The former president railed against his conviction in brief remarks shortly after the verdict was read, calling it “a disgrace” and maintaining he’s “a very innocent man.”
The judge set a sentencing date for July 11, which falls just four days before Trump is set to formally become the GOP nominee at the Republican National Convention.
While some House Democrats were animated in the immediate aftermath of Trump’s conviction, others offered a more measured reaction, describing the verdict as a “somber moment.”
“This is a serious and somber moment for our country, but one that we arrived at because the rule of law held strong,” Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-Ill.) wrote on X.
“Today, 12 Americans found Donald Trump guilty of all 34 counts, making it the first time in our nation’s history that a president was determined to be a felon, a sobering moment,” Rep. Anna Eshoo (D-Calif.) echoed on X.
Rep. Jerry Nadler (D-N.Y.), who led both impeachments against Trump, said “Today, justice was served in Lower Manhattan.”
“Former President Trump’s relentless attempts to subvert the justice system and undermine the rule of law were unable to overcome the overwhelming, damning evidence presented by District Attorney Alvin Bragg,” he said. “As I have said from the beginning of this trial, no one is above the law—not even a former President.”
The New York Democrat, however, added that he “couldn’t be more proud to be a New Yorker now that Manhattan has led the way in convicting him as a felon.”