A day before the 12-member Manhattan jury found former president Donald Trump guilty of fabricating financial documents to conceal payments of hush money to an adult film star, Trump prophesied dire economic consequences for New York City if he were to be convicted. Speaking outside the courthouse , the Republican frontrunner slammed his ‘rigged’ trial once more and argued that company executives would leave the city in dread of facing similar charges for payments made to mistresses, Raw Story reported.
Trump says New York will lose “trillions and trillions of dollars” because of his legal issues pic.twitter.com/tHUq7XijQB
— Acyn (@Acyn) May 30, 2024
“We were treated very, very badly!” Trump complained. “And the outside world is watching and the outside world is just not going to bring their business to New York! And that’s going to cost the city and the state trillions and trillions of dollars! Businesses are leaving and people are fleeing!” In actuality, data from the US Chamber of Commerce indicates that the number of new business applications in New York increased by 8.1% from December 2022 to December 2023.
The only people losing money are defendant Trump and his gullible supporters who continue to send him their money to support his criminal defenses!! #TrumpCrimeFamily #TrumpCrimeSyndicate #Cult45 #GOPFail https://t.co/PAF1kYSogN
— Ken Warnock (@KenWarnock) May 30, 2024
This is not the first time Trump has suggested people are leaving because of his hush money criminal prosecution. Speaking to reporters outside the courtroom on May 16, Trump proclaimed, “New York has got to do something about what’s happening because you look at Judge Engoron, you look at Judge Kaplan, what they’ve done, it’s disgraceful. Everyone’s laughing at the New York system and companies are leaving, people are leaving, but major companies with tremendous taxpayer dollars and employers of millions of people, literally. People are leaving, they’re taking their companies and they’re all watching this case.”
New York state saw an increase of 8.1%, with Brooklyn filing the most applications, almost 52,000. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce says in 2023, new business applications hit a record-breaking 5.5 million filed. Thanks JOE!
— Yes, Karen (@FreeStateKaren) April 22, 2024
Trump fueled these fears even after the civil fraud verdict against him. He was fined $355 million and was temporarily barred from conducting business in New York. According to The Guardian, NY Governor, Kathy Hochul, was forced to release a statement assuring local business owners that there was “nothing to worry about.”
When asked during an interview on the Cats Roundtable radio program in New York whether entrepreneurs should be concerned that prosecutors could “do that to the former president, they can do that to anybody”, Hochul responded, “Law-abiding and rule-following New Yorkers who are businesspeople have nothing to worry about because they’re very different than Donald Trump and his behavior.” She added that the fraud case against Trump resulted from “an extraordinary and unusual circumstance”.
What businesses are leaving?? Ask the follow up!!And, since the yearly budget for New York State is around $240 billion, it’s hard to see it losing “trillions and trillions of dollars” just because it is trying a former president who was legitimately indicted by a grand jury.
— Polly DeStefano (@pollyd55) May 30, 2024
Most New York business owners are “honest people, and they’re not trying to hide their assets and they’re following the rules,” Hochul said, requiring no state intervention. “This judge determined that Donald Trump did not follow the rules…He was prosecuted and truly, the governor of the state of New York does not have a say in the size of a fine, and we want to make sure that we don’t have that level of interference.”
