How Trump and his allies are spinning his historic guilty verdict

Former President Donald Trump and his allies immediately tried to flip the script after a New York jury found him guilty of 34 felony counts of falsifying business records Thursday.

Most of their pushback on the airwaves and social media echoed the points they were making as the trial was ongoing: They felt that Judge Juan Merchan was conflicted, the jury was made up of liberals and the case amounted to election interference to boost President Joe Biden.

As the dust from the historic criminal verdict began to settle, Trump and his backers sought to flood the zone to insist the system was rigged against him the whole time.

"We didn't do a thing wrong," Trump said outside the courthouse Thursday after the unanimous guilty verdict. "I'm a very innocent man."

Here's how Trump and his allies went on the offensive:

Attack the judge

To a person, Trump and his many defenders took aim at Merchan, the judge presiding over the case, because of a small donation he made to Biden's presidential campaign in 2020. It echoed an attack they levied against him throughout the trial.

"This was a rigged trial by a conflicted judge who was corrupt," Trump said after the verdict outside the Manhattan courthouse, adding Merchan "should have never been allowed to try this case."

Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., who is in the running to be Trump's running mate, said on X that the trial was "conducted by an openly pro-Biden judge," while Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, said in a Newsmax interview Thursday that Merchan "should have worn a Biden campaign hat while he sat on the bench."

Merchan donated $15 to Biden's presidential campaign in 2020 and $20 more to progressive organizations, all through the donation platform ActBlue.

Trump and his supporters also said