Stormy Daniels offers word of advice to Melania Trump after hush money trial verdict
Stormy Daniels has offered a word of advice to Melania Trump after her husband Donald Trump was convicted of all charges in his New York hush money trial last week.
The presumptive Republican presidential nominee was found guilty on Thursday on 34 counts of falsifying business records to hide a $130,000 payment made to porn star Ms Daniels – as part of an election conspiracy to kill stories of alleged affairs that threatened to derail his 2016 presidential campaign.
In the historic trial, the adult film star delivered blockbuster testimony about their alleged sexual encounter in 2006 and the subsequent hush money payment made to her in October 2016.
Following the verdict, Daniels has now spoken out to advise Melania to leave her husband over the scandal.
“I don’t know what their agreement may or may not be, but Melania needs to leave him,” Ms Daniels told The Sunday Mirror.
“Not because of what he did with me or other women but because he is a convicted felon.
“It’s been proven he is abusive; he was found liable for sexual assault and tax fraud and is now a criminal. He’s neither Teflon Don nor Teflon Con anymore.”
In the same interview, Ms Daniels suggested Mr Trump “should be sentenced to jail and some community service working for the less fortunate, or being the volunteer punching bag at a women’s shelter” following his criminal conviction.
Neither Melania nor Trump’s daughter Ivanka Trump attended the trial at Manhattan Criminal Court to support him. Their absence was especially obvious given other family members and a number of grandstanding Republican surrogates all put in appearanaces and railed against the alleged “injustice” of it all on his behalf.
Despite her physical absence, Melania’s name did crop up in courtroom testimony, notably when star witness Michael Cohen recalled asking Trump how news of an alleged affair would be received by his wife.
Melania had given birth to son Barron Trump just four months before Ms Daniels’ alleged sexual encounter with Trump.
“Don’t worry,” Cohen told the court his former employer answered.
“How long do you think I will be on the market for? Not long.”
Daniels, a mother of one, said she did not blame the women for failing to show up to support Trump, commenting: “I would not want to expose my children to that dangerous environment.
“And Melania and Ivanka are both parents, their mothers who have younger children, and that would be my reason.
“You know, if it was the other way around, even if I wanted to support my spouse or my family member, I would choose the safety and privacy of my child over attending court.”
Mr Trump gave his own interview over the weekend to Fox and Friends Sunday where he was asked about the toll the trial had taken on his wife of 19 years.
“It’s very hard for her,” he answered.
“It’s tougher, I think it’s probably in many ways, it’s tougher on my family than it is on me.
“She’s fine, but I think it’s very hard for her. I mean, she’s fine. But it’s, you know, she has to read all this c***.”