Guilty but unashamed, Trump says he will see Biden in November

WASHINGTON — Donald Trump is guilty, but not ashamed. The question now is whether he will suffer politically for his crimes.

The first former American president convicted at trial — found guilty Thursday on all 34 counts of scheming to help his 2016 campaign by covering up an alleged sexual encounter — Trump rallied quickly to raise money and votes from the verdict.

He blasted out a fundraising message to donors just minutes after the jury finished its work, and he vowed in the courthouse that "the real verdict is going to be Nov. 5 by the people" when he faces President Joe Biden in a rematch of their 2020 election.

Biden agreed.

"There’s only one way to keep Donald Trump out of the Oval Office: At the ballot box," the president said in a statement posted to X along with a link to donate to his campaign. He took no victory lap, uttered no insult and offered no prediction of Trump's political demise.

Trump also called himself a “political prisoner” in another fundraising appeal shortly after the verdict, even though he is not in prison.

There's simply no precedent for a convicted candidate carrying a major-party's banner into a general election. Many political experts say it is too early to tell whether the outcome will add fuel to Trump's 2024 campaign or make it toxic to persuadable voters.

"What no one knows yet is what independent and swing voters are going to do," said Chris Kofinis, a Democratic strategist who has worked on multiple presidential campaigns.

Democrats who spoke to NBC News Thursday were split on whether Biden might see a bump from the verdict, with some seeing genuine upside to Trump's troubles and others expressing more doubt.

"This is the result we wanted and is another talking point against