Growing Anger at the Trump Convictions

[Editor's Note: We asked a number of prominent Catholic commentors for their reaction to the Trump convictions. Below are their responses. (The reaction of Crisis Editor-in-Chief Eric Sammons can be found here.)]

Austin Ruse, President of C-Fam (Center for Family & Human Rights)

It is no coincidence that the government jailed an elderly lady to months in prison for praying at an abortion clinic at the same time that a political court in New York convicted President Trump of political crimes and now threatens to jail him. Though I was surprised at how spitting mad I was on the day he was convicted, it makes perfect sense in the current climate. The regime has declared war on their political opponents, everyone from elderly ladies to the former president to you and me. 

At a wedding a few nights ago, Rick Santorum, a former U.S. Senator who is known for his conservatism, told me he was being audited by the IRS for the first time in his life. He told me about a well-known fast food maven who sold his business a few years ago because several federal agencies began investigating his business after he had come out as conservative. There are old ladies in prison today because they wandered onto the Capitol grounds on January 6th. These are all political. 

My first response to the Trump convictions was anger. I said on social media one word, “War.” We are at war. But it is not a war that we started. It is a longstanding war of aggression started by the left that has taken over all the institutions of our common life including the justice system. 

We have no choice but to be warriors, always remembering we must also be happy warriors. We were made for this. 

Michael Ippolito, Co-founder and President, The American Postliberal

To anyone who has been paying attention since 2015, it is obvious why Donald Trump was convicted last Thursday. The former president was convicted not because his actions warranted it. Trump was convicted because he stood up to the dying liberal establishment and is now one of the most important figures in American history. 

What started as a businessman’s attempt to fix a broken country, has transformed him into a historical phenomenon. The injustice levied against Donald Trump has exposed how deep the rot in America goes. The American government has not served the people for many years, and Trump revealed the true nature of our system.

The United States is not a serious nation, in fact, it seems that the American experiment has failed. The future of this country will not be solved by winning the 2024 election, as important as it is. Catholics should look at the current political landscape, and see the golden opportunity in front of us. The decaying American system presents Catholics with a chance to restore this nation to something greater than it is now.

We need to support Trump. The people and the groups who hate Catholics, hate Trump. Remaining neutral in this election is not an option, given the alternative candidate is a “devout” pro-abortion and pro-LGBT Catholic. Catholics should support Trump, but it’s time to stop thinking in terms of election cycles and start thinking in terms of decades. 

Sarah Cain, The Crusader Gal

President Trump’s conviction has rightly shaken the country, awakening even the politically disinterested and perennially disenfranchised. Those whose eyes have long glazed at the happenings of Washington suddenly paid mind. It’s not because President Trump is a bastion of morality, for only the swamp of DC can sometimes make him appear so by contrast. Rather, this saga is quite different from the shady deals and run-of-the-mill corruption that we’ve become rather numb to. 

His convictions at the end of an unfair trial by a partial jury and a partisan judge mark a moment in which the current administration confessed that they did not even care about the appearance of justice and impartiality. It didn’t matter how many people were watching—they demonstrated that they are prepared to wield the levers of power to destroy their political enemies, even (and perhaps especially) in the run-up to an election. 

The things that the establishment hates about Trump are the ways in which he most reflects the American people: his indignation about the way the bureaucratic machine works, his desire to start major projects to fix what matters to the American people (e.g. the wall), his sense of national priority over the interests of foreign nations, and his willingness to speak candidly. In this way, the targeting of President Trump is about silencing an unrepresented swath of the nation’s disenfranchised and thereby establishing a more overt tyrannical rule. 

The challenge for those living through such uncertain times is to not deify by reflex. Unrighteous persecution does not make one a righteous man, much less does it make him an object of worship. As the psalmist warns us to “not put your trust in princes,” may we join in fighting against injustice while continuing to remember that we will not experience God’s order and peace on this side of the grave. We must speak Truth into a saga of so much fervor—condemning evil, and defending what is good, knowing that this space is vacant of saints. The tendency to lionize can cause us to get swept too far into a political encampment that can never deliver on its unholy over-promises.

Regis Martin, Professor of Theology, Franciscan University of Steubenville

One would have to ignore massive levels of corruption, stretching from the local DA all the way to the Biden Crime Family, to conclude from the outcome of the Trump Trial that justice was served. It was a travesty, pure and simple. Not only in the grotesquerie of the trial itself, which was a sham show right from the start, but also in the obscene gloating among those who have taken such obvious and noisy delight in his multiple-felony conviction. 

Let’s be clear here. The whole point of the prosecution, from first to last, was meant to disgrace the man and to destroy his campaign. To that end, it is not at all unlikely that Donald Trump will go to prison. How else are his enemies going to triumph if not by locking him up long enough to prevent his ever re-taking the White House? Whether the effort succeeds or not will depend on an election scheduled six months from now. 

Concerning which, the following needs to happen. We must do all we can to ensure that Donald Trump wins in November; which means, at the very least, exercising one’s obligation to vote. Not to do so is a counsel of despair. And not because Trump is such a stellar example of Catholic statesmanship; one must not confuse his character with that of, say, Sir Thomas More. But because the alternative is far, far worse. A vote for Biden—for myself certainly—would constitute serious sin. So, while despair is never an option, anger most certainly is, and especially the righteous kind, which the events of the last week compel us to exercise. Not by complaining, which is tantamount to doing nothing, but by mobilizing as best we can such resources as we have (including prayer!) in order to shred the Biden-Harris ticket. 

Charles Coulombe, author, Blessed Charles of Austria: A Holy Emperor and His Legacy

As all the world knows, President Donald Trump has been found guilty of 34 felony counts in a New York City Courtroom. Now, I have to admit, I am not a great fan of the last president. Back in 2016, when so many young people I knew were swooning over “God-Emperor Trump,” I was chuckling over memories of his antics back in the 1980s and early 90s, as recounted in those palmy days in the bipartisanly satirical pages of the late, great Spy Magazine. Of course, that superbly apolitical journal also offered up such feasts as “Will Teddy Kennedy Go to Hell?: An Interfaith Symposium,” and “Hilary Clinton: Cookie Baking Defender of the Hearth or Mudwrestling She-devil? – You be the Judge!” When Trump announced during the course of that election that he would not challenge same-sex “marriage” as it was now “the law of the land,” I was not surprised. IMHO, he had a deeply sentimental love of our country, but no ideological centre—a suspicion bourne out to my satisfaction by his latest pronouncement on abortion.

All of that having been said, and despite my astonishment at the lack of any other comparably electable talent in the Republican Party, I am horrified at this latest development. The American system, bereft of either a common religion or a Monarch above politics, was able to function well because of two important myths—the sacred nature of the ballot box, and the judiciary as a definer of law (and latterly morality) that was above mere party considerations. The first is long dead, since half the population believe the election of 2016 was stolen, and a comparable half believe the same about that of 2020; that of 2000 provided a grim forerunner. The second, certainly tainted for believers by its moral decisions over the past six decades, has been exploded by this decision. Whatever the outcome of this election, when it is over there will be a settling of scores with no thought of the common good. For those who love country above party, it is horrific to contemplate.

Auguste Meyrat, High School teacher

Besides winning every patriotic American’s support, Trump’s conviction should also prompt them to remember the others who have been targeted by leftist lawfare: the January 6th protesters, pro-life activists, and even business leaders like Elon Musk. While Musk and Trump have the resources to fight back, these other Americans are denied justice and forced to suffer as political prisoners of the Biden Regime.

The willingness of Democrats and their supporters to resort to this kind of persecution betrays their underlying governing philosophy. Rather than demonstrating competence and making persuasive arguments for their continued leadership, they will silence those voices who dissent and fabricate narratives to mask their gross incompetence. At the heart is the belief that reality is merely a matter of perception and controlling the narrative is everything. Nothing is objective. 

Leftists obviously believe that Americans today are too stupid and lazy to push back. After all, so many willingly gave up their freedoms and comforts four years ago when they were told that Covid-19 would decimate the population. It only took some corrupt experts and a powerful media machine to effectively shut down the country for so many months, wreck the election process with mass mail-in voting, and turn Americans against one another. To this day, no one has apologized (including the Church), no reconciliation has occurred, and the election process is still deeply compromised.

It goes without saying that Biden and the Democrat party will double-down on this tyranny if they win in November, especially as systemic dysfunction continues to mount. Americans can expect all future elections to be unfairly rigged. They can expect more money to be redistributed to leftist oligarchs who profit from an exploitative globalist system and a large, powerless underclass. They can expect Christians and conservatives to be cast out of public life and taxed into oblivion. They can expect the proliferation of shantytowns, barrios, and encampments as more of the Third World crosses the open Southern border. They can expect the collapse of law and order in every major city. And all this is to say nothing of the younger generations quickly growing accustomed to all this decay and internalizing it. 

As such, all Americans have a duty to not only vote accordingly but also speak out. This means reading more, writing more, listening more, talking more, and gradually pulling people away from the propaganda. Silence and ignorance is how the darkness wins. It’s time to let in the light of truth, faith, and freedom before reversal becomes impossible. 

Sheryl Collmer, Independent Consultant

Through bitter experience, I’m already unhappily acquainted with our broken justice system, but the Trump verdict is something else. As General Mike Flynn tweeted on Thursday evening, “Wherever you are, remember this moment for the rest of your life.” Even the non-legally trained can count a dozen unethical, irregular, and unprecedented anomalies in this case. The American legal system isn’t just broken; it’s been carjacked. 

The Bad Guys (can we just call them what they are?) continue to underestimate the American public. Trucker Jake and Farmer Jane don’t have to be Harvard grads to see that the sham trial represents a threat to all who are not onboard with the despotic agenda. Don’t mistake this battle between good and evil for mere politics.

But watch the Dunkirk that’s emerging from this burlesque show. Ordinary Americans are sailing their tiny boats towards the armada. Tens of millions of dollars from small donors hit the Trump war chest in the 72 hours following the verdict. It’s like the spirit of ordinary Englishmen in 1940, who puttered their civilian fishing boats and pleasure craft directly into German artillery fire to rescue the boys trapped at Dunkirk. The British people were so inflamed, they’d have taken surfboards out next.

The fury of Americans in the first few hours after the verdict was necessary to galvanize us. Now we’re on a mission to save the republic for our kids, and the rowboat flotilla is forming up. St. Michael, pray for us. 

Joe McClane, Host, “A Catholic Take“

How will anyone trust the legal system after this trial? Will Donald Trump’s cases in Florida and Georgia also be handled this way? If you love Trump you would say it was a travesty; however, if you hate Trump you would say it was justice. But what if you find yourself somewhere in the middle, as I and many other Americans do, what do you call it then? Perhaps we should say it is a sign of the times, and not a good one at that. 

DA Alvin Brag took a potential misdemeanor offense and found a creative way to turn it into a felony, past the statute of limitations. Essentially, he argued that Trump falsified business records, not to cover up an affair with Stormy Daniels, but to cover up a second crime. In this case a state election interfering law, related to the 2016 campaign. How ironic that Donald Trump is accused of rigging an election, don’t you think? Yeah, a little too ironic! Then there’s Judge Juan Merchan’s fifty pages of instructions to the jurors, stating that although all twelve jurors had to agree he was guilty, they didn’t have to agree on what he was guilty of. In fact, Judge Merchan provided three options for each of them to choose from. All of this while his daughter, Loren Merchan, raised a lot of money for Democrats during the trial. This is the stuff great appeals are made of in the American legal system. Or is it?

If the snap poll over at YouGov is to be believed, half the country is convinced this case was a “show trial,” and will only lead to greater division. That is a large percentage of Americans, from both sides of the “Trump aisle,” who believe that Alvin Brag and Judge Merchan conducted “lawfare” upon their enemy. If this is true, it is a bad sign for our Country. If Trump is re-elected to the White House, will he use the DOJ as his weapon of choice to punish his opposition? To see the Justice system so clearly twisted and manipulated in order to punish your enemy, it begs the question, “How will anyone trust the system after this?” Furthermore, a growing number of Americans believe we are being pushed towards another civil war. Is this why the Trump campaign raised nearly $60 million in the 24 hours after the verdict? Or why young voters, women, and minorities, are sounding their support for Trump in droves? 

However, I think there is still a bigger question to ask, why does Trump do it? Although he is not likely to be sent to jail, former President Donald Trump is facing up to a 180 year sentence. Keep in mind that he spent his four years as president being constantly berated in the media and liberal punditry, impeached twice, then, after leaving the White House, raided by the FBI, and all while losing millions in net worth. Not to mention the emotional and psychological impact this has had on his family, most especially on his youngest son Barron. 

It’s likely that if Trump had never run for President back in 2016 he would still be the darling of the liberal left, but now he may lose more than just money and friends. Still, he isn’t willing to concede defeat. Why? Is it for love of the country, as he stated during the post trial press conference? Is it his large ego that he is so famously known for? Only God knows, but I’ll say this, very few people would face such overwhelming odds, with so much at stake, and keep going. Would you? With the lines of opposing forces being drawn in greater contrast every day the American Catholic must pick a side. As Psalm 146 (v.3-7) reminds us, we can not trust this world, nor the rulers of it, rather let us turn to God and trust in Him, most especially when the day is nearly spent and the night fast approaching. I’m not a prophet, nor the son of one, but I can clearly see darker days ahead for us all. Jesus, we trust in you.

John Grondelski, former associate dean of the School of Theology, Seton Hall University

“Our justice system has endured for nearly 250 years, and it is literally the cornerstone of America. Our justice system should be respected and we should never allow anyone to tear it down. It’s as simple as that. That’s America. That’s who we are. And that’s who we will always be, God willing.” — Joe Biden, May 31.

Our justice system was tarnished by this trial and its outcome.

If I saw a White House consistently respectful of the judiciary, I might be inclined to give ear to those remarks. But when the Administration has consistently berated the Supreme Court for Dobbs, sometimes even threatening to “pack” the Court, I see a double standard. When Biden boasts that, despite a Supreme Court decision that his student loan cancellations were unconstitutional, he’s looking for and found ways of circumventing the Court, I see a double standard. When I’m told to respect the decisions of 12 jurors but listen to an ongoing campaign against Supreme Court Justices Samuel Alito and Brett Kavanaugh—not to speak of the ongoing “high-tech lynching” of Clarence Thomas now in year 33—I see a double standard about the deference to “rule of law” and the courts that supposedly protect it.

If it’s fair game to criticize tested jurists on the highest court in the land, it’s fair game to question a judge and jury on a first-level trial court in New York. The Left’s partisans of judicial activism have always played this shell game: disparaging the courts when they dislike an outcome, but suddenly adopting some version of secular infallibility—ex curia rather than ex cathedra – when the outcome pleases them. That’s when they suddenly become strict conservatives, demanding adherence to “precedents” and stare decisis, no matter how wrong the underlying decision might have been. 

At this point, the question is whom the American people want as their president. This process strikes me as “lawfare” designed to interfere with the American people’s right to pick their president, whether by contorting statutes to transmute misdemeanors into felonies or pretending the 14th Amendment’s restrictions on rebels who conducted war against the United States apply almost 160 years later to supposed, uncharged, and unconvicted “insurrectionists.” The American people deserve better.