A Sad Day for America
But not for the reasons some are saying
By Peter Sprigg
June 6, 2024
On May 30, 2024, former president Donald Trump was convicted of the crime of falsifying business records by a New York jury. He is the first former president of the United States ever to be convicted of a crime.
Many Trump supporters are calling it a sad day for America. They mean it is sad that a liberal Democratic district attorney in Manhattan was able to prosecute a former Republican president who is also his party’s presumptive presidential nominee this year.
I agree that it was a sad day for America—but not for the same reasons.
Here is why I think that the day of Donald Trump’s conviction was a sad day for America:
It is sad that a man who once held the highest office in the land has now been found guilty by a jury of his peers on 34 felony counts.
It is sad that a man whose original claim to fame was as a supposedly successful businessman has been found guilty of falsifying business records.
It is sad that a number of those falsified records are checks that were signed by Mr. Trump in the White House, while he was president.
It is sad that those records were falsified to cover up “hush money” payments to a former “adult film” (pornography) actress.
It is sad that the hush money was paid to prevent that “actress” (Stormy Daniels) from talking publicly about an extramarital sexual encounter Mr. Trump allegedly had with her a decade earlier.
It is sad that Mr. Trump believed the payment was necessary to save his 2016 presidential campaign after an audiotape was revealed (the “Access Hollywood” tape) on which Mr. Trump boasted about grabbing the genitalia of women without their consent.
It is sad that the hush money payments concealed as “legal fees” were used to illegally affect the outcome of the presidential election, making what would be misdemeanors into felonies.
It is sad that, during his trial, Mr. Trump committed contempt of court ten times by verbally attacking witnesses, jurors, court staff, or their families, in violation of an order of the judge.
It is sad that this so-called “gag order” was necessary because we already know from experience (on January 6, 2021) that Mr. Trump’s verbal attacks can inspire his supporters to engage in violence against those he criticizes.
It is sad that, since his conviction, Mr. Trump has continued implicitly to threaten violence by his supporters if the punishment for his crimes includes going to prison, saying ““I don’t know that the public would stand it. . . . You know, at a certain point, there’s a breaking point.”
It is sad that many conservatives—and especially that many Christian conservatives—have turned a blind eye to, excused, or even justified Mr. Trump’s behavior.
It is sad that this convicted felon is now the presumptive nominee of the Republican Party for president in 2024.
And it is sad that this convicted felon may become the president of the United States again.
It was a sad day for America indeed.