Donald Trump guilty verdict in hush money trial prompts reactions across battleground Wisconsin

Former President Donald Trump was convicted by a New York jury on 34 felony counts in a hush money trial Thursday, setting off reaction across the key swing state of Wisconsin.

Trump in a statement called the verdict a "disgrace" and said the "real verdict" would be at the Nov. 5 election that is expected to be a rematch between Trump and President Joe Biden.

"After this travesty of justice, our judicial system will never be the same. How can this not be considered the most egregious example of election interference?" Republican U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson posted on X.

The sentencing is scheduled for four days before the Republican National Convention is set to begin in Milwaukee, where Trump is expected to accept the party's nomination for president.

In a statement, a Biden campaign spokesperson said the verdict "does not change the fact that the American people face a simple reality. There is still only one way to keep Donald Trump out of the Oval Office: at the ballot box. Convicted felon or not, Trump will be the Republican nominee for president."

Here are other reactions from around Wisconsin:

Former Wisconsin Republican Gov. Tommy Thompson

I think it’s going to pretty much cement Donald Trump being elected the next President of the United States. People see this trial as a political vendetta against Trump by the Biden administration, and I think people are gonna vote accordingly.

Democratic U.S. Rep. Mark Pocan

"Guilty!" Democratic U.S. Rep. Mark Pocan posted on X. "Validation that Trump was trying to manipulate the election prior to January 6, where he again acted as a criminal. Now let’s move on to reelecting. @JoeBiden. (And he’s not a felon)"

Democratic U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin

Baldwin in a statement said: “No one, including a former President, is above the law."

Republican U.S. Rep. Scott Fitzgerald

Fitzgerald said in a statement that Democrats were using the trial to distract from Biden's "malfunctioning policy agenda," and he slammed Trump's former fixer Michael Cohen, who testified against the former president.

"The verdict delivered in President Trump’s trial today is an absolute sham and based largely on the ‘testimony’ of a convicted liar whose credibility sits about as low as it gets," he said.

Democratic U.S. Rep. Gwen Moore

"I have trust in the justice system and know that the members of the jury followed the evidence and made their decision accordingly," Moore said in a statement. "Justice was served."

Former Republican Gov. Scott Walker

Republican U.S. Rep. Derrick Van Orden

Van Orden in a post on X shared an image of the American flag with the hammer and sickle, a symbol of Soviet Russia. He said it was a "dark day for our nation" and that he was "disgusted by the verdict" and attacked the judge in the case as a "scumbag."

Democratic Party of Wisconsin Chairman Ben Wikler

"Today demonstrated the bedrock American principle that no one is above the law, and tomorrow we'll be right back where we were this morning with a choice between Trump and MAGA extremism and chaos, or Biden — freedom, democracy and an economy that works for working people," Wikler said. "Nothing about today changes the fact that Donald Trump is the Republican Party's nominee for president of the United States, and if anything the stakes are even clearer."

Republican Party of Wisconsin Chairman Brian Schimming

"This is a dark day for America. Democrats have weaponized the legal system with their politically motivated prosecution of President Trump. Today’s verdict is a national embarrassment. And voters will make their disapproval known this November when they vote to restore President Trump to the White House."

Hilario Deleon, Republican Party of Milwaukee County chairman

Deleon said in a statement that the verdict marked "a dark day for the Republic" and that the trial was a "political persecution of the leading candidate of the opposition party."

"This doesn’t change anything in my opinion, and instead makes me and millions of other people want to vote for Donald J. Trump even more," he wrote. "November 5th here we come!"

This story will be updated.

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This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Trump jury verdict prompts reactions across battleground Wisconsin