Some of the initial reactions from Utahns — voters in a reliably red state — were familiar: “Witch hunt.” “Politically motivated.” Others were “not surprised” or felt “relief” at the historic felony conviction of former President Donald Trump. One saw the moment as “somber.”
Despite Trump being the first former or sitting president to ever be criminally convicted, the unaffiliated and Republican voters KUER spoke with overwhelmingly said the outcome was unlikely to sway their choice in November.
“I'd be surprised if there's too many people who haven't already made up their mind too much on Trump either way,” said Evan Pack, an unaffiliated voter in Salt Lake City.
The sentiment is in lockstep with an NPR/PBS NewsHour/Marist poll, where 67% of those surveyed said a guilty verdict would have no impact on their decision.
Chase Wells, an Independent voter in Davis County, falls within the small percentage of people who were swayed. He was “surprised” to learn the jury found Trump guilty because he “has always kind of landed on his feet” when accused of illegal or inappropriate acts. However, he said it’s tough to “differentiate if this is just another witch hunt” or if the verdict is something he should “actually care about.”
“To me, this falls more into witch hunt territory. I wouldn't have voted for Biden. I probably wouldn't have voted. And now it makes me feel like I should actually go out and vote.”
Jonas Bahta, an unaffiliated voter in Salt Lake County, was “not surprised” by the verdict, but he did find the timing of the trial “politically motivated.”
“They’re doing it [the trial] close to when he's [Trump] up for election to kind of manipulate his hopes of getting into office,” he said.
He also believes the trial “set a tone” for a more “divided” America and more “distrust” toward the government and how the judicial system operates. While Bahta believes there were political motivations, he still hasn’t decided who he will vote for. But he knows the verdict isn’t going to be the fact that tips his scale.
“My core concern is the economy,” Bahta said. “Who's going to be able to put more money in my pocket or how am I going to be able to feed my family?”
Other Utahns, like Republican voter and Utah County resident Sylvia Newman, felt “relief” when Trump was found guilty. But soon after the verdict, she began to be fearful that another riot, similar to Jan. 6, would occur.
“What really scares me is people not trusting [the judicial system]. That is a big threat to democracy when we think that it's all rigged and that the jury somehow was not fair,” she said.
For Pack, the verdict gave him “hope” that elected officials on both sides would be held accountable for their behavior. He is “very concerned” about the judicial system as a whole “because of how tied into partisan politics it is.”
He understands how Trump supporters could see the trial as “politically motivated” because of the political make-up of any given judicial system since the courts aren’t “impartial or an apolitical organization.”
“That's concerning to me that the trust I could see in the system is being a little eroded,” Pack said.
Susan Anderson, another Republican in Utah County, was “somber” when the verdict came down. It didn’t change her mind and she’ll stick with Trump. Guilty or not. After he lost the 2020 election, she “knew right away” she would vote for him if he ran for a second term.
But she was particularly taken aback by how quickly the jury made its decision. She expected the jury to deliberate for at least four or five days.
“I thought out of 12 jurors that there would have been at least one that would have spent more time considering these charges on a former American president,” Anderson said. “It just kind of blew my mind.”
To her, it was a “letdown as far as the judicial system goes.” She doesn’t believe the trial was run fairly.
“There just wasn't even the appearance of fairness in the trial. So what does that say about our judiciary? It makes me really sad. Just really sad.”
