Trump Gets Sentenced To Be First Convict President

Contributing sentiments towards policy:

74% : But on Friday, at the first-ever sentencing hearing for the first-ever convict President, Trump addressed the court for the first time.
66% : Trump did his typical shtick of grievance, complaining that people didn't realize how much he was loved; all the other parties agreed that the office, at least, meant that, for the next four years, he's allowed to go scot free.
56% : Trump, who will be President in 10 days, was represented by two lawyers who he has said will hold top roles in his Department of Justice.
51% : The trial's restrictions on access to nearly everyone except the press replicated the conditions that, in an earlier era, gave media institutions their power and may have played some role in preventing Trump's brand of political entrepreneurialism from taking hold.
49% : Trump appeared on a series of small screens in the courtroom, seated in front of two American flags, next to Blanche.
49% : You could get it from Trump, but why would you?
42% : "But there was another tinge to what Trump was saying: it was as if he needed validation from those he was speaking to, and wasn't getting it.
37% : Donald Trump appeared remotely, but everything else was in place: the judge was seated up high, the defendant and prosecutors positioned down below.
37% : The judge spent most of the sentencing explaining why no real punishment could be applied to Trump.
35% : Trump, Steinglass said, "sees himself as above the law and won't accept responsibility for his actions."
35% : He's "caused enduring damage to public perception of the criminal justice system and has placed officers of the court in harm's way."
33% : Instead of galvanizing the idea that he was not above the law, the manner in which the sentencing proceeded had the opposite effect: demonstrating that by winning the November 2024 election, Trump had partly vitiated the criminal justice system that sought to hold him accountable.
30% : His conviction is a hollow victory for the years-long effort to hold Trump accountable for criminal wrongdoing.
28% : Judge Juan Merchan imposed that sentence -- of "unconditional discharge" -- labeling Trump a convict without a fine, jail time, or probation.
26% : Even during the sentencing, Trump repeated some of the conduct that, as Steinglass said, evinced a total lack of remorse.
22% : Trump made his return to Manhattan criminal court on Friday via Microsoft Teams.
20% : "But he's not George Washington," Trump concluded.
12% : Trump, he explained at length, gained legal protections from prosecution because he was assuming the Office of the Presidency -- not because he was Donald Trump.

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