Donald Trump was indicted by a Manhattan grand jury yesterday (March 30), in the first criminal case against a former US President. Numerous famous faces from the entertainment world have since shared their thoughts on the decision.
The charges faced by the former POTUS stem back to 2016, when adult film actress Stormy Daniels and former Playboy model Karen McDougal claimed that they were paid in an attempt to silence claims of extramarital affairs.
According to the charges, in late 2016 – amid his presidential campaign – Trump’s former lawyer Michael Cohen paid Daniels $130,000 (£105,300) to stay silent about an incident a decade earlier. Around this time, Cohen has also arranged for the National Enquirer’s publisher to pay McDougal $150,000 (£121,238) to prevent a story about an affair with Trump.
The historic event marks the first criminal case against a former President of the United States. He is scheduled to appear for his arraignment at 2:15pm on Tuesday (April 4) and will reportedly face over 30 charges – the specifics of which remain unknown for now.
Donald Trump. CREDIT: Brandon Bell/Getty Images
In a statement, lawyers Susan Necheles and Joseph Tacopina said (via Associated Press): “He did not commit any crime. We will vigorously fight this political prosecution in Court”.
Trump also issued a statement in reaction to the indictment – labelling the event a “witch-hunt” led by “radical left Democrats”.
“The Democrats have lied, cheated and stolen in their obsession with trying to ‘Get Trump’ but now they’ve done the unthinkable,” he wrote “Indicting a completely innocent person in an act of blatant Election Interference.”
Donald Trump. CREDIT: Brandon Bell/Getty Images
Following the announcement, several famous faces from the entertainment world have shared their thoughts on the landmark situation – including Questlove, Garbage and George Takei.
“I am thankful federal law enforcement [is] sending a strong signal that violent, anti-government protests from MAGA and militias will not be tolerated,” tweeted the latter.
With Trump facing arraignment, I am thankful federal law enforcement under Merrick Garland arrested over 1,000 insurrectionists from Jan 6, sending a strong signal that violent, anti-government protests from MAGA and militias will not be tolerated.
— George Takei (@GeorgeTakei) March 30, 2023
Garbage took to Instagram, sharing a photo of the former president with the caption: “Making America great again.” Bette Midler, meanwhile, simply tweeted: “INDICTED!” Check out more responses from the world of entertainment below.
INDICTED!
— bettemidler (@BetteMidler) March 30, 2023
— Plug 5. (@questlove) March 30, 2023
START SPREADIN THE NEWWWWWSSSSS
— Jason Isbell (@JasonIsbell) March 30, 2023
Trump Indicted! First among many!
— Rob Reiner (@robreiner) March 30, 2023
Wise up, Republicans. Don’t believe the lies. This isn’t political. Donald Trump did this to himself.
He betrayed your trust.
— Stephen King (@StephenKing) March 30, 2023
BREAKING: This is first time in American history that a current or former cast member of Home Alone 2 has been indicted for paying hush money payments to a porn star to sway an election pic.twitter.com/pGWSCk4zOO
— Zack Bornstein (@ZackBornstein) March 30, 2023
Hard day for Home Alone 2 fans
— Mike Drucker (@MikeDrucker) March 30, 2023
first they came for Donald Trump, and I did not speak out— because I was laughing so hard I couldn’t catch my breath
— Jeff Tiedrich (@itsJeffTiedrich) March 30, 2023
The former president is also facing investigations into his alleged involvement in 2020 election interference made by his supporters, the attack on the US Capitol in January 2021 and his handling of classified documents following his time in office.
Earlier today (March 31), it was reported that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu considered Donald Trump’s dinner with Kanye West was a “big mistake”. The rapper met with the former US President at the latter’s Florida estate in November 2022. “I thought it was horrible, and I said so. I think it’s a big mistake,” Netanyahu said.
He continued, referencing West’s recent string of anti-Semitic comments: “It’s wrong from every point of view. It should not be countenanced, it should not be accepted, it should be rebuked and condemned and that’s what I do. And I don’t care where it comes from, or from whom.”
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