Trump Base Views Indictments As Evidence of Political Persecution – President Donald Trump’s Teflon political coating likely will not be diminished among his die-hard MAGA supporters as the indictments pile up against him.
Democrats might believe they can damage the former president’s chances in the general election by these indictments, but it will only help solidify his base.
Trump and his followers can easily point to the legal double standards they see being applied to claim political persecution.
“If this happens, Trump will be re-elected in a landslide victory,” Elon Musk wrote on Twitter.
Liberal Fox News commentator Geraldo Rivera tweeted, “Arresting Trump for Stormy is a dumb idea. It reveals DA Bragg as a politician not a legit prosecutor.” Rivera called the idea of prosecuting Trump for the Stormy Daniels affair “a terrible idea” that would make a martyr out of the former president.
They can point to the fact former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton got away with paying a $113,000 fine for misrepresenting expenses paid by the Perkins Coie lawfirm to Fusion GPS as “legal services.” Fusion GPS compiled fabricated evidence against then candidate Donald Trump that led to the FBI obtaining a FISA warrant against Trump foreign policy aide Carter Page and ultimately the Mueller Russiagate investigation.
This contrasts with how Trump is being treated in their eyes. The former president likely will be indicted by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, who is believed will attempt to elevate a misdemeanor charge of false reporting to being a felony of election fraud.
Trump allegedly paid Stormy Daniels $130,000 to keep quiet about their alleged affair during the fall of 2016. New York prosecutors under Cyrus Vance Jr. previously decided that New York law could not be used to enforce what essentially amounted to a federal campaign finance law violation. Bragg himself decided early on that it was a hard case to make.
“Bragg is struggling to twist state laws to effectively prosecute a federal case long ago rejected by the Justice Department against Trump over his payment of “hush money” to former stripper Stormy Daniels,” George Washington University law professor Jonathan Turley wrote in The Hill. “None of this means Trump is blameless or should not be charged in other cases. However, we seem to be on the verge of watching a prosecution by plebiscite in this case. The season opener of ‘America’s Got Trump’ might be a guaranteed hit with its New York audience — but it should be a flop as a prosecution.”
Trump’s congressional supporters are circling the wagons around him.
“This is just a continuation of the disgraceful and unconstitutional pattern going back to the illegal Russian collusion hoax to attempt to silence and suppress the will of the voters who support President Trump and the America First Movement,” Republican Conference Chairwoman Rep. Elise Stefanik wrote on Twitter.
When it comes to the federal prosecution that lingers against Trump over his handling of classified documents after leaving office and his involvement in the Jan. 6, 2021 Capitol riot, his base is likewise convinced that the probe led by Special Counsel Jack Smith is a committed partisan Democrat.
House Judiciary Committee Chairman Rep. Jim Jordan made exactly that claim, noting he had been hand-picked by Attorney General Merrick Garland and that he had a track record of botched prosecutions in November on Twitter.
President Joe Biden’s personal legal difficulties related to his own mishandling of classified documents combined with a failing economy, and his family’s financial scandals could make it harder for Democrats to politically exploit the prosecutions.
In the end, Democrats could end up making Trump a political martyr.
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