RALEIGH, N.C. (WTVD) — Triangle-area political and legal experts agreed Thursday about the historic nature of the sentence handed down to former President Donald Trump, who was found guilty on all 34 counts of falsifying business records.
In an unprecedentedly polarized political climate, no one is yet sure which way the ruling will tip the tide.
“I think up until now, everything has been hypothetical, so now what we're facing is a real situation,” said David McLennan, a political science professor at Meredith College in Raleigh.
McLennan said he will have to wait until further polls come out after the verdict, but he believes Trump supporters will remain loyal.
“I would say he's the front-runner in North Carolina going into the 2024 election,” he said, “but I don't want to say he's not, because we're polarized and some people just don't care.”
See also: How a conviction of Trump could affect the 2024 presidential election
With another tough election looming, attention is now shifting to what happens next. Former President Trump's sentencing is scheduled for July 11, just days before the start of the Republican National Convention.
“Donald Trump is the first person to have been convicted, so the judge will take that into consideration,” said Irving Joyner, a longtime law professor at the University of North Carolina at Colorado.
He said the judge still has several options available to him in imposing the sentence.
“He can choose to suspend the sentence he gave Mr. Trump or he can impose prison time depending on the severity of his conduct here,” Joyner said.
Local political leaders have also reacted to the ruling. In response to ABC11's request for comment, the North Carolina Democratic Party released a statement from the Biden-Harris campaign.
Related: North Carolina politicians react to former President Trump's guilty verdict in historic trial
“Today in New York, we saw that no one is above the law,” the statement read in part. “Donald Trump has always mistakenly believed that he could break the law for his own self-interest and face no punishment. But today's sentence does not change the simple reality facing the American people: there is still only one way to keep Donald Trump from the Oval Office: the ballot box.”
The Wake County Republican Party chairman called the verdict “horrifying.”
“I think the American people care about our justice system, and this is worrying them,” said Steve Bergstrom, the Wake County Republican Party representative.
He said the ruling would not change Republican plans locally in November.
“The American justice system has been the standard around the world for so many years, and now it's under threat, so I think it will motivate people to go out and fight for the principles that we hold dear,” Bergstrom said.
The verdict could also have significant financial implications for both candidates: Shortly after the guilty verdict was handed down, a new fundraising campaign was launched on the Trump campaign's website in direct response to the verdict.
President Trump also led an in-person fundraiser after leaving a New York City courthouse on Thursday, and President Biden also tweeted a link to his own fundraiser as part of a statement with Vice President Harris.
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