Mark Peterson/Pool Photo via AP
Donald Trump remains favourite with the bookies to be the next President of the United States despite being criminally convicted last night.
The Republican nomination became the first former US president to be convicted of felony crimes as a New York jury found him guilty of falsifying business records in a scheme to illegally influence the 2016 election through hush money payments to an adult movie actress who said the two had sex.
Jurors deliberated for more than nine hours over two days before convicting Trump of all 34 counts he faced.
Trump sat stone-faced while the verdict was read as cheering from the street below could be heard in the hallway on the courthouse’s 15th floor where the decision was revealed.
“This was a rigged, disgraceful trial,” he told reporters after leaving the courtroom. “The real verdict is going to be November 5 by the people. They know what happened, and everyone knows what happened here.”
But despite the result going against him, Trump still remains favourite going into the November election.
He has drifted slightly in the betting out to 5/6 from 8/11 after being found guilty on 34 counts, but remains ahead of rival Joe Biden, who is 6/5 from 11/8 to win this year’s election.
William Hill spokesperson, Lee Phelps, said: “Last night was a historic one in US politics as Donald Trump became the first former US President to be criminally convicted, and while that verdict coincided with a with a small drift in our betting market – out to 5/6 from 8/11 – Trump remains favourite to return to the White House later this year.
“Joe Biden has shortened marginally in the betting to secure a second term as President and is now 6/5 from 11/8, but it appears it will take more than a criminal conviction for Trump to replace his rival at the head of the market.”
| Donald Trump | 5/6 |
| Joe Biden | 11/8 |
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