When Internet Roared 'Lock Him Up' After an AI Image of Donald Trump in Prison Went Viral

Earlier this year, former President Donald Trump was found guilty by the 12-member jury on all 34 felony counts in the New York hush money trial after almost two days of deliberations. As per Reuters, although those found guilty frequently receive lower terms, fines, or probation, the maximum punishment for fabricating company records is four years in jail. In light of the same, the hashtag 'Lock Him Up' started trending on X. An AI-generated meme of Trump in a prison cell has gone viral. User @JenTusch tweeted the image and captioned, "President Donald Trump was not just found guilty. He was found Guilty Af! He is now a convicted felon. Lock Him Up!!"

Others also joined in to mock the Republican leader. A user, @Websoulsurfer, opined, "Mr. Donald Trump is not the president now. As this trial shows he was never legitimately the president ever." Another user, @VickyMorton13, enquired, "Can he still be a president behind bars? As I had read he could but would anyone from America want a criminal (even if it was for frauds) to become president...being in jail...I hope he gets the same treatment as the other prisoners do." 

As the comments poured in, another user, @kdoright, stated, "I believe Florida has a law that felons can no longer vote!" Chiming in, user @RonStreible urged, "Just make sure he gets the Maximum Sentence!" @sloey1353 mocked both Joe Biden and Trump, quipping, "Lol just means Biden going to lose the election to a convicted felon." 

George Grasso, a former New York judge who witnessed the trial, said that "the jury's very short time to verdict was an indication that they believed Cohen's testimony to be sufficiently supported by the facts." Republicans however expectedly condemned the verdict. "Today is a shameful day in American history," House of Representatives Speaker, Mike Johnson, said in a statement. 

Todd Blanche, Trump's lead attorney, requested Judge Merchan to overturn the guilty decision, claiming that Cohen's untrustworthy evidence was the foundation for it. However, Merchan turned down his plea instead. “This case is replete with reversible error going back to the first day, continuing through jury instructions. Every aspect of this case is ripe for appeal. We are going to appeal as quickly as we can. We will seek expedited review of this case,” Trump's attorney, Will Scharf, told Fox News.

As per The Hill, he went on to add, “And we’re going to trust that the appellate courts in New York understand the dangerous Pandora’s box that this lawless judgment has opened and that they understand the potential ramifications to our legal system if this unjust verdict is allowed to stand." He concluded, “And we are actively considering all options that could lead to justice for President Trump here because justice has not been done in this New York courtroom today."

This article was originally published on 06.01.24