Chattanoogans react to former President Donald Trump’s Tuesday arraignment

Interviews with locals at UTC Campus and the Walnut St. Pedestrian Bridge

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. (WDEF) – Former President Donald Trump made history today by becoming the first former President in U.S. history to be charged with a crime.

What was the reaction about the arraignment from locals? Whether they were pro-arraignment, anti-arraignment or even believing it was a joke, Chattanoogans shared all of the opinions.

Around 2 p.m., former president Donald Trump entered court in Manhattan to face criminal charges in connection with hush money payments made to an adult film star back in 2016.

Trump pleaded not guilty to 34 class E felony charges.

“Knowing that he has supposedly a felony charge and a bunch of other counts as well, and it involves assaulting a woman, so I don’t really think, again- it just makes me sad to know that people I love really support him, and it just makes me sad for the future of this country, honestly,” said Gabriella Lewis, a UTC senior.

The former president called the hush money investigation a ‘personal and political witch hunt against him.’

“No one is above the law. It boils down to- if you break the law and you allude or evade, you know- prosecution or judgment- you cannot. I mean it is what it is. It’s very unfortunate. I’m not trying to say- ‘I’m against the man,’ but when you break the law, I think justice is served. I think we all have to abide by the law, including Donald Trump,” said Michael Pressler, a Georgia resident.

“When I first saw that, I knew how Trump was- like with attention and all of that- so when I read that, I just thought like it was his own rumor, like he was making that up because like I’ve never heard it from anybody else,” said Emily Moore, a UTC sophomore.

One local real estate agent says she believes all of the commotion is to prevent him from running for president again in 2024.

“I think that it’s a huge ploy just to keep him out of office. I think this is their last ditch chance to try to keep him from running in 2024,” said Ashley Miles, a Tri-State area resident.

Trump’s lawyers say they’ll fight the prosecution in court once they’re back in Florida.

There were a few locals who chose not to show their face or mention their names, but these opinionated citizens wanted to share their thoughts, nonetheless.