Stormy Daniels says Trump should be jailed after conviction
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Stormy Daniels broke her silence after testifying against Donald Trump in his New York trial, in which he was found guilty on 34 counts of business fraud.
PHOTO: REUTERS
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LONDON - Ms Stormy Daniels, the former adult film actor, broke her silence after former US president Donald Trump’s conviction and said he should be jailed, in an interview published in British tabloid The Mirror at the weekend.
“I think he should be sentenced to jail and some community service working for the less fortunate or being the volunteer punching bag at a women’s shelter”, Ms Daniels said in the interview, published late on June 1.
A jury of 12 New Yorkers on May 30 found Trump guilty on 34 counts of business fraud
Ms Daniels, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford, was paid US$130,000 (S$176,000) to keep silent and prevent scandal from breaking ahead of the election, in which Trump narrowly defeated Mrs Hillary Clinton.
After years of exchanging insults with Trump on social media, Ms Daniels now says she finally has been “vindicated”, although she was “shocked” at how quickly the jury made a decision – one that made Trump the first ever former US president to be convicted of a crime.
She also accused the White House hopeful of being “completely and utterly out of touch with reality” and compared him to a child at one point in the interview.
The former adult film actor and director helped bring Trump down in court with her testimony, which included graphic descriptions of what she says was a casual sex encounter in 2006.
“Being in court was so intimidating with the jurors looking at you,” she said in The Mirror interview, adding that she was glad it was proved that she had been “telling the truth the entire time”.
“It’s not over for me. It’s never going to be over for me. Trump may be guilty, but I still have to live with the legacy.”
The 45-year-old had remained uncharacteristically quiet in the days following the conviction on May 30.
Ms Daniels’ husband Barrett Blade had previously told the CNN broadcaster she was “still processing” the trial. He suggested that she could be threatened by Trump’s supporters.
“You know, all the Maga idiots are going to be coming after her,” Mr Barrett said, referring to Trump’s Make America Great Again movement.
Ms Daniels also said she would never escape death threats from Trump’s supporters, The Mirror reported.
“It’s so vicious and threatening... from the standpoint of just the fear of what somebody might do,” Ms Daniels’ lawyer Clark Brewster said of the atmosphere around the trial in an interview with a local ABC News channel.
Ms Daniels is a self-made woman who rose from a difficult childhood and through the challenging world of adult movies to become a successful businesswoman.
In a recent documentary, she revealed that behind her outwardly tough, humorous persona on social media, she has been hurt by the constant insults from Trump and his supporters.
“Back in 2018 that was stuff like ‘liar’, ‘slut’, ‘gold digger’,” she said in the film Stormy.
“This time around, it is very different. It is direct threats, it is, ‘I’m going to come to your house and slit your throat’, ‘your daughter should be euthanised’.”
In an interview aired on Fox and Friends on June 2, Trump said his trial was “very hard” on his wife Melania, a notable absentee from the close family members who attended court.
“She’s fine, but I think it’s very hard for her,” Trump said. “She has to read all this crap.”
“I think it’s probably, in many ways, it’s tougher on my family than it is on me,” he added.
The trial and its revelations have added to tensions in the already bitterly divided country.
On May 31, Trump launched into a stream of insults and non-factual claims, lashing out at the trial and the judge who presided over it.
His campaign on May 31 said that it had raised nearly US$53 million in online donations after the conviction, boasting that the verdict had boosted his support “like never before”.
Trump is due for sentencing on July 11 but is expected to appeal against the verdict. He potentially faces a prison sentence, but is much more likely to receive probation. AFP
