Former President Donald Trump will attend a town hall meeting in Phoenix on June 6. This will be his first major appearance since his historic conviction on criminal charges on May 31.
The event is organized by Turning Point Action, the political advocacy arm of Turning Point USA, a student-oriented political advocacy group. President Trump will field questions from a live audience, according to Turning Point Action founder Charlie Kirk.
The former president held a press conference at Trump Tower in New York on May 31 and spoke for about 30 minutes but did not take questions. He criticized New York prosecutor Alvin Bragg and President Joe Biden and promised to appeal the verdict in his New York trial.
A day later, the former president attended an Ultimate Fighting Championship match in Newark, New Jersey, but did not deliver remarks. He received a thunderous ovation from the crowd.
“President Trump is beating Biden in Arizona—and now is exactly the right moment for the President to speak directly to voters in state 48, and around the country, in this unique town hall format,” Mr. Kirk said in a statement.
President Trump was convicted on 34 counts of falsifying business records in the first degree, which is a felony in New York. He continues to maintain his innocence.
The charges stem from the payment of $130,000 to Stephanie Clifford, known as Stormy Daniels in her work as an adult film performer, in 2016 in exchange for her agreement not to disclose allegations that she had a sexual encounter with President Trump years earlier. President Trump denies that the encounter took place.
The prosecution claimed that the payment, which would not be illegal in its own right, was disguised as payment to other entities in an attempt to keep the matter from affecting the outcome of the 2016 presidential election.
President Trump has maintained that the prosecution was a politically motivated attack on a political rival, intended to sway public opinion against President Trump in the current election.
Fundraising After Conviction
Following President Trump’s remarks on May 31, the Biden campaign responded by saying that President Trump is “consumed by his own thirst for revenge and retribution.”
“America just witnessed a confused, desperate, and defeated Donald Trump ramble about his own personal grievances and lie about the American justice system, leaving anyone watching with one obvious conclusion: This man cannot be president of the United States,” Michael Tyler, communications director for the Biden campaign, said in a statement.
Both President Joe Biden and President Trump have used the conviction as the basis for fundraising appeals.
The Biden campaign texted supporters on the day of the verdict saying, “Despite a jury finding Donald Trump guilty today, there is still only one way to keep Donald Trump out of the Oval Office: At the ballot box.” The message went on to say, “if you have been waiting for the perfect time to make your first donation to Joe Biden’s reelection campaign, we’re here to tell you today is the day.”
The Trump campaign that it had raised more than $50 million in the 24 hours after the guilty verdict.
“We are moved by the outpouring of support for President Donald J. Trump,” Trump campaign senior advisers Chris LaCivita and Susie Wiles said in a June 3 statement.
The June 6 town hall marks President Trump’s return to the campaign trail. He had held few campaign rallies over the past six weeks due to his required presence at the New York criminal trial.
President Trump will hold a campaign rally on June 9 in Las Vegas.
GOOD. WE need to flip AZ BACK to being red.