‘Stormy’s Going To Save America:’ How Sex Workers Feel About The Trump Trial Verdict

Last week, Donald Trump was found guilty on all 34 counts in his hush money trial after a jury unanimously agreed he had falsified business records to cover up allegations of an affair with adult film star Stormy Daniels.

Daniels’ credibility on the witness stand became a linchpin in the prosecution’s case.

“All the jury really needs to believe is that Trump and Daniels had sex and years later Trump paid Daniels off to keep her quiet, then ‘cooked the books’ to hide that payment, in violation of an election fraud law,” David Ring, a partner at Taylor & Ring in Los Angeles,told Newsweek during the trial.

Despite Trump’s lawyers’ best efforts to slut-shame Daniels and portray her as someone trying to shake down a powerful man by selling a fabricated, salacious story, in the end, the jury found Daniels’ testimony convincing. That felt especially gratifying ― even vindicating ― to fellow porn actors and sex workers, communities that have long been marginalized and stigmatized in U.S. society.

“I wish I could believe that we’ve seen the last of Donald Trump, but I’m not that optimistic. But one thing I am pleased about is that despite the attempts at character assassination, the jury still clearly considered Daniels, a credible witness,” said Maggie McNeill, a retired sex worker and the author of the blog The Honest Courtesan.

Though she admits it might be aiming high, McNeil wonders if Daniels’ impressive comportment at the trial will change the conversation surrounding sex work.

“Back in the ’90s ― before ‘sex trafficking’ hysteria was heavily promoted by politicians and other propagandists recently, the U.S. public was largely turning against sex work criminalization,” she said. “Perhaps this is a small sign that we’re