Local politicians, San Francisco Bay Area residents react to Trump guilty verdict

The reaction to Thursday’s guilty verdict against former President Donald Trump in his New York “hush money” trial was varied in the Bay Area, whether you talked to political figures or regular residents.

Some local politicians did not hold back when they offered their opinion about the verdict.

East Bay Rep. Eric Swalwell was pointed in his post on X, saying “Donald Trump is a convicted felon. This verdict is not a win for any single person. It’s a win for an idea. The idea that we all follow the same rules. The rule of law won today.”   

San Francisco City Attorney David Chiu also posted about the verdict on X. He said, “Trump has long disregarded the rule of law, but today a jury sent a clear message that no one is above the law. Voters across the country must wake up to the fact that trump is a convicted felon and is unfit for office.”  

Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi was more measured in her posted on the social media platform early Thursday evening, saying, “This moment is a somber one for America. Trial by a jury of peers is a fundamental principle of democracy, which must be respected.” 

CBS News Bay Area also spoke with some Bay Area Republican party representatives, including San Francisco chairman John Dennis. He  reiterated what Trump has said himself about the trial being a politically motivated criminal prosecution. 

“This is a bad look for the country,” said Dennis. “We represent ourselves as a paragon of a republic and democracy in the world and today we really showed that we’re something other than that.” 

“In 35 years as an attorney, I have never seen a judge act so far outside the law as this judge did. As an historian, I can say that it is likely this period will be viewed as the period wherein those in power acted at great cost to protect their power,” said Tom Del Beccaro, the former chairman of the California Republican Party. “In 2015 I wrote a book called the divided era and this will only further divide America.”

California Republican Party Chairwoman Jessica Millan Patterson released the following statement regarding the verdict:

“Today’s guilty verdict is a dark day for our justice system and our nation that never should have happened. From the very beginning, this was a politically-motivated case brought by a far-left district attorney. Despite Democrat-led efforts to interfere with the presidential election, Americans will have the final say this November when they re-elect President Trump and send him back to the White House to fix the many failures of the Biden administration and put our nation on a pathway to success.”

People who CBS News Bay Area spoke with responded with a range of comments. 

Pleasanton resident Corey Morgenthaler said he somewhat surprised at the outcome.

“I didn’t expect the full 34 counts, so I’m a little bit surprised there,” said Morgenthaler. “But I was kinda expecting there to be a guilty outcome at least a little bit.”  

When asked if he thought the verdict would change people’s minds about who they are supporting, he replied, “I think with him being a convicted felon, there’s going to be some impact there. I don’t know if it will change the outcome one way or another, but I think it will definitely sway some of the votes.”

He also thought Trump would likely use the verdict to rally his supporters.

“He’s kinda a master propagandist for better or worse,” said Morgenthaler. “I think he’ll definitely take advantage of it in the media as much as he can, but I think the American people will have sense about them, and most of them will take this for what it is, which is a felony count.”

Angela Wipfli, another Pleasanton resident, was surprised.

“I went ‘Wow!’ because I was not sure that they would do it,” said Wipfli.  

She also said she did not think the verdict would affect his support.

“According to the polls I’ve seen, everything else he’s done does not impact his poll numbers,” she said.  

Anne Makovec contributed to this story.