(CNN) — Former President Donald Trump said he is “fine” with serving a possible prison sentence or being under house arrest following his historic conviction on 34 felony counts of falsifying business records.
“I agree with that,” Trump told Fox News in an interview broadcast Sunday when asked about possible punishments. “The other day I saw one of my lawyers on TV saying, ‘Oh, no, you don’t want to do that to the president.’ I told him: Don’t beg for anything.”
But Trump added: “I don’t think the public will stand for it. “I’m not sure the public will support it.”
“I think it would be difficult for the public to accept, you know, at a certain point, there is a breaking point,” Trump said.
His comments come just days after a Manhattan jury found Trump guilty of all charges in his hush money trial, making him the first former president to be convicted of a felony and the first presidential contender to a major party to be convicted of a crime in the country in the middle of a campaign for the White House.
Judge Juan Merchan set Trump’s sentencing for 10 a.m. ET on July 11. Merchan could sentence Trump to probation or up to 4 years in state prison for each count, with a maximum of 20 years.
For now, the former president remains out of prison awaiting sentencing. He maintained in the Fox News interview that he did nothing wrong and criticized the “sick” people involved in his conviction.
“I’m fighting for the Constitution,” Trump said, adding that the trial had been “harder” on his family than on himself. Speaking specifically of her wife, former first lady Melania Trump, the former president said: “She’s doing well, but I think it’s very difficult for her. I mean, she’s fine. But it’s… you know, she has to read all this crap.”
When asked about the possibility of seeking political retaliation if he wins the 2024 presidential election, Trump said that while simply being successful sounds “beautiful,” it is “terribly difficult when you see what they’ve done.”
“These people are very evil and at the same time the country can unite,” he added.
