Opinions continue to rage on both sides of the prosecutorial divide after former President Donald Trump was found guilty on all 34 counts in his controversial “hush money” case.
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On one side of the historic divide are people concerned over the verdict — those who fear its implications and worry about issues pertaining to fairness. Evangelist Franklin Graham is among those critics.
“Our country is at a crossroads,” Graham wrote Thursday on social media. “What we saw today has never happened before, and I think, for the majority of Americans, it raises questions about whether our legal system can be trusted.”
The CEO of Samaritan’s Purse and Billy Graham Evangelistic Association then encouraged Americans to turn to God as they process what unfolded.
“Pray for our nation, for God‘s guiding hand that this republic will be one nation under God with liberty and justice for all,” Graham concluded.
In a separate reaction, Harvest Crusade founder and Pastor Greg Laurie encouraged Americans to turn to prayer, though he didn’t mention Trump or others by name.
“Please, pray for America,” he wrote on X. “Pray for America like you never have before.”
Please, pray for America. Pray for America like you never have before.
— Greg Laurie (@greglaurie) May 30, 2024
Then, there’s the other side: those who believe justice has been served or contend Trump has major character flaws highlighted by the case against him.
Russell Moore, editor-in-chief of Christianity Today and former president of the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission, the Southern Baptist Convention’s policy arm, was among those presumably poking at Trump’s character.
“The question is what it has always been — fit or unfit,” he wrote on X. “And the answer was obvious all along. Character matters, still.”
The question is what it has always been- fit or unfit. And the answer was obvious all along. Character matters, still.
— Russell Moore (@drmoore) May 30, 2024
And Moore wasn’t alone. Michael Wear, an author and ex-Obama White House staffer, issued his own rebuke of those defending Trump.
“Remember to defend the convicted felon who paid hush money to the woman with whom he had an adulterous affair or else our kids might be exposed to social disorder and sexual immorality,” he wrote on X.
Remember to defend the convicted felon who paid hush money to the woman with whom he had an adulterous affair or else our kids might be exposed to social disorder and sexual immorality.
— Michael Wear (@MichaelRWear) May 31, 2024
Isn’t the conviction of someone who made a hush money payment to cover up an adulterous affair about as straightforward a tale of moral comeuppance as one could tell?
— Michael Wear (@MichaelRWear) May 31, 2024
Not much surprises me anymore here, but the fact that the nature of the crime does not provoke a minute of hesitation to those defending Trump today is one of those things.
— Michael Wear (@MichaelRWear) May 31, 2024
Wear wasn’t done there, seemingly expressing dismay over those who appear unimpacted by the claims made against Trump.
“Isn’t the conviction of someone who made a hush money payment to cover up an adulterous affair about as straightforward a tale of moral comeuppance as one could tell?” Wear wrote. “Not much surprises me anymore here, but the fact that the nature of the crime does not provoke a minute of hesitation to those defending Trump today is one of those things.”
Views across social media echo this divide, with some seeing character and justice in the ruling and others expressing fear and worry over what they believe is a weaponization of the judicial system.
We’ll leave you with some additional reactions:
Today’s verdict represents the culmination of a legal process that has been bent to the political will of the actors involved: a leftist prosecutor, a partisan judge and a jury reflective of one of the most liberal enclaves in America—all in an effort to “get” Donald Trump.
— Ron DeSantis (@GovRonDeSantis) May 30, 2024
That…
Indeed, great damage was done today to the public’s faith in the American legal system.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) May 31, 2024
If a former President can be criminally convicted over such a trivial matter – motivated by politics, rather than justice – then anyone is at risk of a similar fate. https://t.co/zrHCyIZazh
As the Trump verdict was read a shiver passed through the entire Republican Party looking for a spine to run up.
— Skye Jethani (@SkyeJethani) May 30, 2024
Latinos look upon developments in New York City today as particularly ominous. It will profoundly affect the results on November 5. We are now official members of the “Banana Republic” association.
— Samuel Rodriguez (@nhclc) May 30, 2024
NDAs are just another kind of hush money.
— Karen Swallow Prior (Notorious KSP at The Priory) (@KSPrior) May 31, 2024
No wonder so many Christian leaders and pastors are upset.
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