Elon Musk reacts to Trump guilty verdict: ‘Troubling indeed’

Elon Musk said Thursday that the verdict in the trial against former President Donald Trump was “troubling indeed” and that the events did “great damage ... to the public’s faith in the American legal system.”  

Musk posted a response to billionaire Bill Ackman sharing a post from Florida Republican Governor Ron DeSantis that read, “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.”  

DeSantis, a former rival of Trump’s during the Republican primary wrote, “That this case—involving alleged misdemeanor business records violations from nearly a decade ago—was even brought is a testament to the political debasement of the justice system in places like New York City. This is especially true considering this same district attorney routinely excuses criminal conduct in a way that has endangered law-abiding citizens in his jurisdiction.”  

“It is often said that no one is above the law, but it is also true that no one is below the law,” DeSantis added. “If the defendant were not Donald Trump, this case would never have been brought, the judge would have never issued similar rulings, and the jury would have never returned a guilty verdict. In America, the rule of law should be applied in a dispassionate, even-handed manner, not become captive to the political agenda of some kangaroo court."  

Musk wrote another comment which was made in response to user Geiger Capital, who posts about economics and finances. "Great damage was done today to the public’s faith in the American legal system. 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," Musk said.   

Geiger Capital made the point that the conviction of Trump was made over an alleged misclassified payment to porn star Stormy Daniels over a non-disclosure agreement instead of "for the Iraq or Afghanistan wars, illegal CIA coups, drone striking weddings, or spying on Americans."  

On Thursday, a Manhattan jury found the former president guilty on all 34 counts of falsifying business records.   

Following the verdict, Trump told the media that the “rigged” verdict was "disgraceful" and said the "real verdict is going to be Nov. 5 by the people.”  

President Joe Biden  issued a statement against his top political rival from his re-election campaign claiming "the threat Trump poses to our democracy has never been greater."