Last night – Thurs May 30th – Donald Trump became the first former president in US history to be convicted of a criminal offence – that of falsifying business records to buy the silence of a porn star. A 12-member jury in New York found him guilty on all 34 charges. He will now be sentenced on July 11th. Though Trump had bragged that the charges against him were “a great badge of honour”, he didn’t try to hide his fury at the verdict reached.

Whitewash

While the liberal media gloat over the decision, love him or loathe him, by all accounts, this was a politically motivated attack on Trump; proof that his opponents will stop at nothing to keep him out of power. Rather than prosecuting an obvious crime, prosecutors set out to prosecute a political opponent. Telegraph columnist, William A. Jacobson is sure the charges were not clear, concise or legitimate:

“A politically motivated prosecution by Democrat prosecutors presided over by a politically connected Democrat judge in a politically Democrat jurisdiction against the likely Republican presidential nominee in an election year. The whole thing stinks.”

By all accounts, this is a politically motivated attack on Trump; proof that his opponents will stop at nothing to keep him out of power.

Trump’s attorney, Todd Blanche, is also adamant his client didn’t get a "fair trial”. Legal expert and former Harvard Law professor, Alan Dershowitz, agrees, arguing, ‘the judge essentially instructed the jury to convict Trump.’ Trump has promised an appeal, for which he has already commenced fundraising.

Trump now faces potential jail time, though most see that as unlikely, with a hefty fine more probable. Either way, his criminal conviction does not disqualify him from running for president or taking office if elected.

Trump himself remains indignant, stating immediately after his guilty verdict; “We didn’t do a thing wrong. I’m a very innocent man.” Millions of American voters are only too ready to believe him.

Criminal and civil charges

But this is only the beginning of Trump’s problems. He faces a string of other serious criminal charges, all but two of which carry a possible prison sentence of over ten years.

He faces a string of other serious criminal charges, all but two of which carry a possible prison sentence of over ten years.

These include:

• Thirteen criminal counts relating to his alleged bid to overturn the 2020 election result in Georgia, including racketeering, violating an oath of office and other crimes.
• Four criminal counts over the events that led to the riot at the US Capitol on Jan 6th 2021, including two counts of conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding and a count of ‘conspiracy against rights’.
• Forty felony charges relating to the mishandling of classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida; including endangering national security by removing US secrets from the White House and storing them in his Florida ‘bathroom’. Three further charges relate to Trump and two employees trying to delete Mar-a-Lago security footage before it could be handed over to the FBI.

Trump has already been found guilty in a number of recent civil court cases, such as exaggerating the value of his properties; and fraudulently inflating income, for which he was fined $350m and effectively banned from serving as a director of his own company for three years.

Division

The chaotic scenes yesterday (Thurs) outside the New York court room between Trump supporters and anti-Trump demonstrators is sadly indicative of American society as a whole – deeply divided over political and social issues generally. In a snap poll conducted hours after the ‘guilty’ verdict, 50% of Americans said they approve of Trump's hush-money conviction, immediate reactions being polarised along party lines.

His post-verdict comment that “our whole country is being rigged right now” will only serve to exacerbate that division, which is likely to become much more severe in the lead-up to the US elections in November.

Trump has long been a thoroughly divisive figure. His post-verdict comment that “our whole country is being rigged right now” will only serve to exacerbate that division, which is likely to become much more severe in the lead-up to the US elections in November.

The consequences of such division for the rest of the world in coming months is also likely to be highly destabilising. It has oft been said that ‘when America sneezes, the world catches a cold’. This could be particularly problematic during a highly unstable period of world history when there exists a large number of conflicts in various parts of the world.

Trump and evangelicals

The sense of gross injustice and victimisation that Trump alludes to may well work to his advantage. Ironically, ever since his mugshot was taken in an Atlanta jailhouse last year, his poll scores have improved significantly.

This could be particularly problematic during a highly unstable period of world history when there exists a large number of conflicts in various parts of the world.

Trump knows full well that he depends on the white evangelical vote – which makes up an impressive 14% of Americans – and he increasingly panders to that group. He has publicly remarked on an “anti-Christian bias” in the US, and promised that he would create a taskforce to investigate “discrimination, harassment and persecution against Christians in America”. A poll showed that about 85% of white evangelical Protestant voters who frequently attend church services voted for Trump in 2020, as did 81% of those who attend less frequently.

But Trump is in many ways an unlikely hero for conservative Christian voters. Three-times married, he is known to be a serial adulterer, shows obvious signs of narcissism, and is regarded by many as a pathological liar. He rarely attends church, says he has never asked God for forgiveness, and cannot quote a single verse from the Bible. Though pro-life, he has stated his refusal to ban abortion outright, saying the decision should be left to individual states. While he has promised to radically roll back transgender rights, he has made contradictory comments on same-sex marriage. He is known for being consistently mean-spirited to those who criticise him.

In his best-selling book, ‘The Kingdom, the Power and The Glory’, Tim Alberta decries the manner in which American churches have become increasingly politicised and deeply divided since Trump’s rise to Presidency in 2016. Many evangelical pastors now preach heavily political sermons, instructing their followers that they can only be a true Christ-follower by being Republican, and by voting Trump.

Many are alarmed at this rise of Christian nationalism that Trump is helping stoke and which is gripping the US. This was particularly obvious during the US Capitol breach on Jan 6, 2021, when a number of protestors carried signs with Christian messages, while one man even led others in prayer inside the Senate chamber – a seeming misuse of faith to justify an attack on a seat of government. Some feel the mix of religion and politics in America has become so toxic and divisive that they fear an ascendent Christian fascism.

Messiah figure

Trump’s inflated ego even extends to repeatedly comparing himself to Jesus Christ. In 2023, he shared a fake court sketch, published during a fraud trial in New York, which shows him seated beside Jesus. He has told his followers that he is ‘suffering for their sake’, and has approved a video which opens by declaring; “On June 14, 1946, God looked down on his planned paradise, and said: ‘I need a caretaker. So God gave us Trump.”

Many Christians have compared Trump to King Cyrus, who, according to the biblical book of Ezra, liberated the Jews from Babylonian captivity, despite himself being a Persian ruler.

Some evangelicals have regarded any serious criticism of Trump as being tantamount to treason. Evangelist Franklin Graham threatened Americans with God’s wrath if they had the temerity to criticize the ex-President.

What’s the choice?

Many Christians have compared Trump, not so much to Christ, but to King Cyrus, who, according to the biblical book of Ezra, liberated the Jews from Babylonian captivity, despite himself being a Persian ruler. In a similar way, they insist, God is using the albeit very imperfect vessel of Donald Trump to further His purposes. (Others, in distinction, see him as more comparable to King Nebuchadnezzar, in his younger days, haughty, arrogant and a braggart - though the Babylonian leader at least repented after his humbling).

It's not that evangelical Trump supporters are unaware of their leader’s character flaws. But they tend to overlook them in deference to his perceived strengths:

• his authenticity (he says what he means, even if it is unpalatable to many of his listeners – and he carries out his promises in the main);
• his overtly pro-Christian - as well as pro-Israel - stance;
• his strong anti-Islamist views;
• his strength as a negotiator;
• his suspicion of global groups like the World Economic Forum and the World Health Organisation and his readiness to stand up to them;
• his vision of ‘America First’ – jobs for Americans, a smaller U.S. trade deficit, a crackdown on illegal immigration, etc.

It is certainly too early for Biden to rest complacent. Only God truly knows what the future holds.

And when they compare Trump's policies to the liberal, seemingly anti-Christian views of his chief competitor, 'sleepy' Joe Biden – never to mention the latter’s increasingly serious memory lapses – many Christians feel fully justified in giving Trump the thumbs-up.

The sense of persecution that Trump – and his followers – feel is being directed against him may well have the effect of rallying further support across America. It is certainly too early for Biden to rest complacent. Only God truly knows what the future holds.

Polls in coming weeks will give some indication as to how the US public regard the recent conviction of their former President – but, deeply disturbing though it is, it does look as if American society is about to become even more polarised than it was just a week ago.