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‘Everybody pays women’: South Florida Trump supporters decry conviction

A few detractors celebrated, however

MIAMI – Supporters of former President Donald Trump gathered in South Florida Thursday following his conviction on 34 felony charges in his hush money case in New York state court.

In Palm Beach, near Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate, a number of people came out to show their discontent.

“They’ve been out to get him since the day he came down the escalator,” supporter Justin Navarez said.

They stood waving their support for the man they call their president.

“I went to January the 6th,” supporter Leona Mangan said, before calling the charges “completely political.”

A smaller number of people showed up to celebrate the conviction, with one detractor saying, “You know if you dated a porn star and hush money payments get hushed away and fill out your books illegally, then you will go to jail.”

Further south, Trump’s strong Cuban-American base in Miami-Dade County also showed up to support him.

Pro-Trump South Floridians gathered at the famed Versailles restaurant in Miami’s Little Havana neighborhood and at La Carreta restaurant in Westchester.

“It doesn’t seem fair they charged him with a felony,” a supporter said outside of Versailles.

A supporter outside of La Carreta said, “You cannot expect a fair trial in a corrupt system. There’s just no justice in this country.”

Supporters in Westchester:

Another supporter, Smith Dawson, said “I predict there will be a revolution in this country if this doesn’t get cleared up and cleared up well.”

Supporter Robert Piedra, in Westchester, said he’ll vote for Trump in November regardless of the conviction.

“Look at the economy how it is, look at the gas stations,” Piedra said. “I work at a dealership, people aren’t buying cars, they can’t afford it.”

Other supporters dismissed the legitimacy of the case.

“Everybody pays women. So he’s the only one who can’t?” a supporter in Westchester said in Spanish.

Only at a nearby gas station did Local 10 News find someone who called this a fair verdict.

“If he’s guilty, he’s guilty,” that man said in Spanish. “Everybody has to follow the law.”


About the Authors

Christian De La Rosa joined Local 10 News in April 2017 after spending time as a reporter and anchor in Atlanta, San Diego, Orlando and Panama City Beach.

Alex Finnie joined the Local 10 News team in May 2018. South Florida is home! She was raised in Miami and attended the Cushman School and New World School of the Arts for high school.

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