WILLIAMSTOWN, Vt. (WCAX) – As the country continues to grapple with Thursday’s historic guilty verdict in the Trump hush money trial, many people across our region remain divided over what it means and what comes next.
“This is my friend Trump, he’s my co-pilot,” said Brook Avery, who drives around Williamstown with a picture of the former president by her side. “Some people like him, some people don’t.”
And whether the country agrees with her or not, Avery thinks the criminal cases against him are politically motivated. “They’re just trying to go after him because he’s a powerful man and people didn’t like him, but I lived my best life when he was president,” she said.
Under a Trump flag down the road, Avery’s neighbor, Doug Moran, agrees. He says while Bill Clinton lied under oath and Richard Nixon was involved in Watergate, Trump gets special treatment. “You’re prosecuting this man and you never prosecuted any others,” he said.
It’s this reasoning we heard again and again as to why Trump supporters won’t be changing their vote in November. “It doesn’t really affect my vote. I’m still going to be voting for Trump,” said Williamstown’s Gary Cullen.
Most people we spoke to weren’t surprised by the verdict, but while some dismissed it. others were ecstatic. “He’s screwed everybody he’s ever come across for the last 40 years. The man has no honor. As far as I’m concerned, they can lock him up,” said Williamstown resident Nelson Lyford.
In Williston, Shalar Wilson of New York says he’s in a state of shock. “It’s just crazy in that he’s the former president. That’s the first time ever, that’s history,” he said.
Williston resident Bradley Weeks voted for Trump in 2020. With the conviction, he says he just won’t be able to bring himself to do it again. “I can’t, you know? He’s finally done it,” he said.
Josh Hunt of Winooski said the news came at him fast and hard. “I opened my phone to like 8 million notifications. That was like my mom texting me all the way in New Jersey and she was like, ‘They finally got him!’ I’m like, ‘No way!’ I can’t believe this is real,” Hunt said.
While the trial has been front-page news for weeks, not everyone has been following the case. Tristian Gray of Plainfield, New Hampshire was blissfully unaware of the trial. “I didn’t know there was a verdict or what he was being charged with or anything like that,” he said.