Trump's supporters have a fixed image of him, and nothing is going to change it.  They simply dismiss or disbelieve anything that doesn't fit the image.  Their image of him is someone who is being unjustly persecuted by political enemies, and this verdict will simply reinforce that.

And people who don't support Trump already have a plethora of reasons for feeling that way.  This verdict is like another drop in the ocean.  So really, it's unlikely to have much of any effect on what people think of him.

That said, it's nice to see him in some small way be held accountable for something.  Though I'm betting he will find a way to avoid paying the judgment.

There is a sizable generation of voters that have emerged since he was last elected and their view of him is not as predictable and cemented as it is for us fogies. It is likely to be harder to take what they have seem of him during that period and assess anything particularly positive. 

I didn't see the town hall, but CNN's legal analyst said he didn't think Trump said anything that created or increased any legal jeopardy.

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The media gets higher ratings and anchors get larger paychecks when Democracy is in trouble... that's no strategy... It's an absolute disgrace that this seditionist clown receives ANY time on media outlets two & a half years after he tried to overturn an election plus orchestrate a coup on live television.

We can't say, "no one is above the law".... and the lack of accountability only discourages people from staying involved in our election system.

-C!

I think there's a core group of supporters for whom that is true.  But I also think a lot of people voted for Trump because they thought he was the least bad of two bad choices.  Every scandal makes it more difficult for anyone to see him in that light.

Not just personal but party loyalty is extremely difficult to challenge, let alone change.

True, but that doesn't account for independents.

I remember when Kerry was running for President, and there were rumors he might tap John McCain to be his VP. In response, McCain made a public statement that he would not join the ticket because he was a "loyal Republican."  At the time, I thought that was a terrible thing to say.  Being a loyal American should always trump party fealty.

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For the last 8 months, CNN has been denying the narrative that the network has shifted to the right (or at least shifted to a sort of “both-sides” form of centrism, that they’ve been purging the network of Trump critics, or that they are trying to appease conservative WB Discovery board member John Malone. I think this town hall is just more fuel for that narrative.