MARYVILLE, Tenn. — On Thursday, a New York jury made history after around nine hours of deliberations — former President Donald Trump was found guilty of 34 felony counts of falsifying business documents.
The charges stemmed from a scheme to illegally influence the 2016 election through a hush money payment to a porn actor who said the two had sex.
"In the entire history of the republic, we've never seen something like this. The closest we've got to a criminal offense is Ulysses S. Grant as President getting a parking ticket, and I think he was riding a horse and buggy," said Mark O'Gorman, a professor of political science and environmental studies at Maryville College. "We are in historic times. And I think, candidly, there are folks who were surprised that he was found guilty by the jury of all 34 counts."
Trump now faces potential prison time in New York City, the place where his career in real estate and later as a reality television star began.
The conviction also comes as a presidential election looms, around six months away. Trump is expected to take the Republican nomination. Despite the criminal conviction, he is still able to serve as President of the U.S.
"Will the Republican Party nominate a convicted and sentenced felon?" said O'Gorman. "I'll say MAGA Republicans are much more supportive of former President Trump. I think it'll kind of, you know, harden their viewpoints. Because you're in a place where Democrats are gleeful that the conviction came through, MAGA Republicans are thinking the whole thing was rigged and obviously just parroting what former President Trump said, usually after each day of the trial."
Trump is expected to appeal the verdict as he returns to the campaign trail. The charges carry up to four years in prison, but Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg did not say if prosecutors would seek imprisonment, according to the Associated Press.
Because the trial was in New York, O'Gorman said questions still linger about whether he will be able to leave the state as he campaigns or return to his Mar-A-Lago residence in Florida.
"I think that person in Middle America is going to wonder, 'Okay, you know, I'm a law and order person. And the criminal justice system just came down pretty hard on this person.' Regardless of your ideology, you're gonna take you're going to you're going to sit at your kitchen table and ponder this one and that's where you're going to start seeing the ramifications," said O'Gorman.