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Donald Trump’s conviction is ‘massive blow’ to his brand and he’s now facing ‘ultimate Godzilla vs King Kong throwdown’
The former president is now working against history to garner votes, PR expert says
DONALD Trump's recent guilty conviction will affect his brand and force him to reframe his political strategy to gain votes from Americans who wouldn't normally vote for a felon, according to a PR expert.
The former president was found guilty of all 34 counts of falsifying business records in his historic hush money trial.
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Trump, the presumptive GOP presidential nominee, will receive his sentencing on July 11, only days before the RNC where he will be confirmed as the party's candidate.
Eric Schiffer, chairman of the Los Angeles-based firm Reputation Management Consultants, spoke exclusively to The U.S. Sun about the aftermath of the conviction and how it will affect Trump as the presidential election looms.
"This is a massive blow to his brand and one that will test his master salesmanship to reframe in the mind of specific Republicans and Independents in order to have them highly discount the concept of a felon," Schiffer said.
"He’s working against history in that respect because people are conditioned overall to judge based on that word, and to judge quite harshly without delving into the facts.
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"This will, in exercise, [be a] battleground over reframing and retelling the story so that the concept of a felon here is hollowed out."
FELONY CONVICTION
Trump's five-week trial based at a Manhattan courthouse saw the testimony of both porn star Stormy Daniels and Trump's former lawyer Michael Cohen.
One month before the 2016 election, Trump allegedly told Cohen to pay Daniels $130,000 to keep quiet about their alleged affair back in 2006.
Cohen used his own money to pay off Daniels and prosecutors alleged that Trump later disguised the repayments as legal retainers.
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The disbarred lawyer explained to the jurors how he had submitted fake invoices for legal services to the Trump Organization.
This allegedly occurred after meeting with Trump at the White House in early 2017 to discuss repayment.
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During the trial, the jury heard Daniel's side of the story, recounting the night she spent with the former president.
She told the court how she spanked Trump with a rolled-up magazine — with his face on the cover — before they went on to have unprotected sex.
Trump continues to deny having an affair with the star.
'WOULD RATHER EAT GLASS'
Despite the conviction, Schiffer believes Trump could still receive votes given his "talents."
"Trump being Trump has the ability to pull it off with a certain portion of Independents and Republicans that would never consider anyone else given his persuasive talents and his ability to stand and repeat messaging in so many variations that people begin to take it in," the PR expert believes.
"What would normally crush any other politician is now the ultimate Godzilla versus King Kong throwdown between Trump and the concept of being a felon," he explained.
"He’ll likely prevail with many Independents and Republicans that would rather eat glass than vote for a felon."
Can Donald Trump still be president if he is convicted before the election?
The U.S. Sun spoke to a legal expert on the question of whether Donald Trump can still serve as president if he is in prison.
"If Donald Trump is found guilty, even if he's sentenced to prison, which is unlikely in the New York case, he can still be president," former prosecutor Neama Rahmani told The U.S. Sun.
"There's nothing prohibiting a convicted felon from being president of the United States.
"Theoretically, Trump could be in prison and still be president of the United States, earning the Constitution.
"The only requirements are that he be 35 and be born in the United States and not have engaged in an insurrection."
The 'ultimate throwdown' Schiffer refers to is Trump versus himself and how he will be preserved by voters as a newly convicted felon — not him versus anyone else.
Though this may be the case for some previous Trump voters or Independents, despite his conviction, support for reelection still holds strong.
Before the trial, 81% of Republicans said they were going to vote for Trump in the 2024 election, according to a poll by Talker Research, which surveyed 500 Republicans and 500 Democrats.
However, after the trial, the number only dropped 4% to 77%.
Among them, 85% would still vote for Trump even if he wasn't nominated at the Republican National Convention.
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Of the 500 Republicans, only 66% understood why the former president was on trial, compared to 80% of Democrats.
Also, one day after Trump was found guilty, his campaign announced they raised nearly $53 million in online small-dollar donations.
Is Donald Trump still under a gag order?
Donald Trump was found guilty on all counts in his hush money trial in New York on May 30, 2024. The historic verdict made him the first former United States president to be convicted of a crime. But now that Trump has been convicted does the gag order still apply?
Why did the judge impose a gag order on Trump?
- Judge Juan Merchan placed Trump on a gag order in March, weeks before the start of his April 15, 2024, trial.
- The order barred Trump from making public statements about witnesses involved in the case or remarks about the prosecution, court staff, or their family members.
- Merchan expanded the order to include his and District Attorney Alvin Bragg's family after Trump repeatedly lashed out against the judge's daughter on social media.
Did Trump violate the gag order during his trial?
- Trump was found to have violated the order nine times during his trial.
- Judge Merchan ordered Trump to pay $1,000 per violation.
- The judge also held Trump in contempt of court twice.
- Merchan warned the former president that he would consider jailing him if he continued to violate the order.
- To bypass the order, Trump quoted right-wing media outlets and legal scrollers criticizing the proceedings.
Is Trump still under a gag order now that he's been convicted?
- Trump's trial may have ended, but his gag order remains intact.
- Trump clarified on May 31, 2024, a day after he was convicted, that his gag order was still in place.
- "I am under a gag order from a man who can't put two sentences together, given by a court," Trump said at a press conference from Trump Tower in Midtown Manhattan.
- In an interview with Fox News Tonight, Jesse Waters asked Trump's attorney, Todd Blanche, a question about prosecutor Matthew Colangelo, which he said he was not allowed to comment on.
- "Well, I'm not really allowed to comment on that because we're still under a gag order," Blanche responded.
- It's unclear when Judge Merchan will lift the order.