Convicted, Trump Blames Judge, Jury and a Country ‘Gone to Hell’

Moments after a jury found him guilty, Donald J. Trump worked his conviction into the story of persecution at the center of his presidential campaign.

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Former President Donald J. Trump surrounded himself with his legal and campaign teams before delivering remarks at the Manhattan Criminal Court on Thursday.

Guilty. Guilty. Guilty. Guilty. Guilty. Guilty. Guilty. Guilty. Guilty. Guilty. Guilty. Guilty. Guilty. Guilty. Guilty. Guilty. Guilty. Guilty. Guilty. Guilty. Guilty. Guilty. Guilty. Guilty. Guilty. Guilty. Guilty. Guilty. Guilty. Guilty. Guilty. Guilty. Guilty. Guilty.

For the first time in his 77 years, Mr. Trump was a felon. Thirty-four times over, he was told. It was unambiguous. It was certain. It was happening.

Before he emerged into the dimly lit hallway on the 15th floor of that dingy Art Deco courthouse, he huddled, for a spell, with his team. There was his son Eric Trump and a longtime loyalist, Boris Epshteyn. There was one of his lawyers from a different case, Alina Habba, and also his campaign spokesman, Steven Cheung. They put their heads together, but there was little mystery as to what the message might be. For months, Mr. Trump has cast himself as a martyr. And now, the moment had come. It was 5:19 p.m.

His advisers stepped aside, and he lumbered to the middle of the hall to face the cameras arranged there. Todd Blanche, Mr. Trump’s lead lawyer, stood a half-step behind, mimicking his client’s scowl.

“This was a disgrace,” Mr. Trump began.

He went on to lay out the story at the heart of his campaign for the White House, his conviction folding neatly into the narrative. These are not his problems. They are the nation’s. This is happening not because he hid payments to a porn star but because “our whole country is being rigged” and “has gone to hell.”

“We’re a nation in decline, serious decline. Millions and millions of people, pouring into our country right now, from prisons and from mental institutions, terrorists,” he said, his eyes narrowed. “And they’re taking over our country.”

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