Reactions to the prosecution of Donald Trump in New York

[25] On April 23, 2023, Trump praised Republicans who had supported him amid two impeachments and the criminal proceedings, contrasting this against the widely negative perception of Richard Nixon during the Watergate scandal.

Bragg's office wrote back that the requests were an "unlawful incursion into New York's sovereignty," noting such information about ongoing investigations was confidential under state law.

"[40] Greene cautioned against protests against Trump's potential indictment, warning of a repeat of the January 6 United States Capitol attack;[42] but reversed this stance after the charges were actually made.

[46] Many of Trump's political rivals, such as entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy and former Governor of South Carolina Nikki Haley, who were at the time running for the presidential nomination, expressed opposition to the indictment.

[49] Former Governor of Arkansas and potential contender for the presidency Asa Hutchinson argued for supporting the legal process, but he also said that he hoped voters would still be able to decide for themselves if Trump should be elected.

"[56] The Heritage Foundation filed two lawsuits asserting that Bragg failed to comply with freedom of information requests regarding his reputed communications with the Justice Department, the Biden administration, and/or Democratic lawmakers.

[65] In tandem to the proceedings, on March 22 the New York Senate passed a bill aiming to exclude the terms of a U.S. president from the time counted by statutes of limitations, as presidential immunity could potentially be used to evade prosecution.

[68][69] Legal experts contacted by the New York Times said that the indictment combines business records charges with state election law in a way that had never previously been done in a case involving a federal campaign.

[91] The Financial Times's Joshua Chaffin said skeptics could compare the case to a similar one involving presidential candidate John Edwards, who obtained a mistrial after arguing that his payments were not intended to influence the election, but to protect his dying wife.

[95] Two New York tabloids with typically opposite political leanings, the Daily News and the Post, condemned Trump's rhetoric in calling for protest as "dangerous" and "crazy", respectively.

"[97] The New York Times wrote that the case has demonstrated both "Bragg's skills and shortcomings as [DA] ... [namely] a keen eye for legal strategy but something of a blind spot for the way his decisions are perceived by the public".

[99][100] Once the indictment was handed down, QAnon accounts on Telegram began posting about "trusting the plan" and how "the storm is upon us", referencing conspiracy theories surrounding the "Deep State".

[101] Deepfake and other imagery created using artificial intelligence (AI) depicting Trump being arrested and/or perp walked circulated on social media with faux headlines, proving controversial and popular on both sides of the political spectrum, though for opposite reasons.

[106] In March 2024, One America News Network, a far-right, pro-Trump cable channel, promoted a false story claiming that Cohen was the one who had carried out an affair with Daniels and that he had used it to "extort" the Trump Organization.

Ergo, the law demands strong evidence that the defendant truly intended to commit a particular kind of crime and took purposeful steps to carry it out, even if the effort was unsuccessful."

[112] On May 17, the attorney and legal commentator Elie Honig wrote that, "Judge Merchan has done an exceptional job running this trial thus far, but he's off base" in regard to the burden of proof.

[118] On May 24, attorney and commentator Gregg Jarrett invoked the Sixth Amendment to the United States Constitution, as follows:[119] [W]e are no closer to understanding what underlying crime Trump supposedly committed.

"[121] CNN legal analyst and law professor Ryan Goodman predicted on May 27 that the defense will be able to sway at least one juror, by focusing Trump's closing argument on the unreliability of Michael Cohen.

[150][151] On May 14, Stormy Daniels's husband, Barrett Blade, told CNN's Erin Burnett that they were considering leaving the country when the trial is complete, as "she wants to move past this".

"[162] Matt Gertz, a senior fellow at Media Matters for America, said that conservative media such as Fox News, Newsmax and One America News Network were "running a sort of 'heads, we win; tails, you lose' play" by depicting the trial as a "witch-hunt ginned up by Joe Biden, and obviously because of that he will be found not guilty, but at the same time, they are arguing that if he is found guilty, it will be because the jury and the judge are partisan and corrupt".

[166] The false statements were met with calls for violent retribution, execution of the judge, civil war, armed insurrection and rioting by pro-Trump supporters online.

"[169] In a press conference, Trump falsely claimed that Cohen got in trouble for his non-Trump related activities, that Biden was involved in his conviction and that an election expert was not allowed to testify.

The weaponization of our justice system has been a hallmark of the Biden Administration, and the decision today is further evidence that Democrats will stop at nothing to silence dissent and crush their political opponents".

"[189] House Majority Leader Steve Scalise publicly stated that "Extremist Democrats have undermined democracy by weaponizing the courts", betrayed the principle of blind justice, and used the court system like a "banana republic" where "Biden teamed up with heavily biased DA Alvin Bragg to go after his political opponent regardless of wrongdoing—while hardened criminals are set free in New York to commit more violent crimes against innocent citizens" and was "nothing more than an attempt to interfere with the 2024 election".

[192] Larry Hogan, 2024 Republican candidate for an open U.S. senate seat and former governor of Maryland, urged "all American people to respect the verdict and the legal process".

[200][188] President Biden largely stayed out of commenting on the case, but reaffirmed the next day that "no one is above the law" and called Republican attacks on the judicial system "reckless", "dangerous", and "irresponsible".

[204] Representatives Jerry Nadler, Judy Chu, Eric Swalwell,[205] James Clyburn, Pramila Jayapal, Jamaal Bowman, Adam Schiff, and Bennie Thompson supported the verdict.

[214][215] On June 4, House Speaker Mike Johnson stated Republicans would seek to defund the Justice Department, New York and other jurisdictions for investigating Trump.

[231][232] Reuters reported that there were dozens of calls for violent revenge by Trump supporters on pro-Trump websites Truth Social, Patriots.win and The Gateway Pundit, with various targets for attacks being mentioned, including jurors, the judge, left-wingers, and Democrats.

[239] Deputy Prime Minister of Italy and leader of the right-wing Lega party Matteo Salvini offered his "solidarity and full support" to Trump.