Michigan officials weigh in on former President Trump’s historic conviction

Former President Donald Trump speaks in Grand Rapids, Michigan on Biden's border policy on April 2, 2024. (Photo: Anna Liz Nichols)

Many Michigan politicians took to social media following the historic conviction of former President Donald Trump. 

U.S. Rep. Elissa Slotkin (D-Holly) acknowledged  on her personal X account the historic significance of  Trump becoming the first former president to be convicted of a crime. 

“This is an unprecedented moment, and a sad one for our country: a former president convicted of a series of crimes,” Slotkin wrote. “Presidents should be leaders we look up to; now, one of them is a convicted felon, found guilty by a jury of his peers. That’s nothing to celebrate.”

Trump was found guilty Thursday in a New York court of 34 felony counts of falsifying business records aimed at covering up hush money paid to adult film actress Stormy Daniels before the 2016 election he won.

Responses to the convictions were generally divided along party lines in Michigan, with Republicans standing with Trump and Democrats supporting the trial’s result.

Trump and some of his Michigan allies reacted to the conviction with fury and criticized the justice system. 

“The Biden-directed Witch-Hunt is a full-frontal assault on our Constitution,” the Michigan Republican Party wrote in a press release. “It is a never-before-seen abuse of executive and prosecutorial power against the chief political opponent of the sitting President and the current nominee of the Republican Party.”

The party accused Judge Juan Merchan, who handled the case, and President Joe Biden’s administration of election interference, saying the trial was an attempt to keep Trump off the campaign trail.

Other Michigan Republicans also hit social media to express support for Trump and anger towards the judicial system. U.S. Rep. Lisa McClain (R-Bruce Twp.) said, “I stand with President Trump now and I always will” on X. 

U.S. Rep. Tim Walberg (R-Tipton) called the trial a “travesty,” and U.S. Rep. Bill Huizenga (R-Zeeland) said it was a “sham.”

Michigan Senate Minority Leader Aric Nesbitt (R-Porter Twp.) also weighed in on his personal Facebook page.

“The use of our legal system as a political weapon perpetrated by these left-wing fanatics is abhorrent,” he wrote. 

U.S. Senate hopeful Mike Rogers, a GOP former congressman who has been endorsed by Trump, described the trial as an “affront to justice” in a release. Senate candidate Sherry O’Donnell also defended the former president, saying in a release that the trial was an “illegal scheme to rig the election.”

“I am furious about this verdict, and I am deeply worried about the future of our nation when the courts can be so abused,” O’Donnell said in a release. 

While fewer Democratic leaders chimed in about conviction, the Michigan Democratic Party reposted the Biden-Harris campaign’s statement on X, which encouraged people to vote in the presidential election, since Trump will still be eligible to run. The party account also posted: “34. That’s it. That’s the tweet,” referencing the number of counts Trump was found guilty on. 

Michigan Democratic Party Chair Lavora Barnes posted a thread on X that began with: “Yesterday we saw that even Donald Trump isn’t above the law. We also know that convicted or not, the GOP is sticking with a nominee who is not fit to serve. And as Trump grows more unhinged and dangerous, many leading Republicans are only embracing him tighter.”

Sam Inglot, the executive director of the liberal organization Progress Michigan, said in a release that the decision to hold Trump accountable was “worth celebrating.”

In a statement to the Advance, U.S. Rep. Haley Stevens (D-Waterford Twp.) said she honored the judicial decision.  

“No one is above the rule of law and yesterday’s conviction, rendered by 12 fellow citizens, demonstrates that,” Stevens said. “Our judiciary and our institutions are strong.”

Many Democrats countered the claim that the trial was rigged, including Michigan Senate Majority Leader Winnie Brinks (D-Grand Rapids) and U.S. Rep. Shri Thanedar (D-Detroit) on X and Rep. Dan Kildee (D-Flint) in a release.

Brinks said Trump received a fair trial and encouraged U.S. citizens to “respect the decision of the court.” Thanedar called the conviction “a win for our justice system and our democracy.” Kildee wrote that the former president had due process and a fair trial.

“The jury has rendered its verdict, and all Americans should respect the verdict and the rule of law,” Kildee said in a release. 

Trump is scheduled to be sentenced  July 11. Prosecutors have not yet disclosed if they are going to pursue prison time, but conviction carries a penalty of probation to up to four years in prison for each of the 34 counts. The verdict will not prevent Trump from running for president for a second time. 

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