Trump: a martyr to criminal charges

bers go up with Republican voters.

“I don’t see a pathway right now where Republican base voters suddenly wake up and say, ‘Wow, this is a bad guy and we’re going to change our minds, we’re going to to vote for Chris Christie or Ron DeSantis.’ All of them have failed on a fundamental level to make a case for themselves because the base will punish them if they attack him.”

Some Republicans in Congress are still willing to criticise Trump on certain issues and a few, such as Senator Mitt Romney of Utah, are outspoken in their conviction that he is un t for o ce. Others, such as Congresswoman Liz Cheney of Wyoming, have either retired or been ousted.

But most party leaders have stayed silent and fallen into line, apparently terri ed of alienating Trump’s fervent support base in what critics describe as political cowardice.

Even his main opponents in the party’s presidential primary race have dodged the issue or endorsed his claim of a Democratic witch-hunt and “deep state” conspiracy.

Trump wrote on his Truth Social media platform: “I need one more indictment to ensure my election!”

He has also used the cases to raise cash, sending out a urry of fundraising emails and raking in millions. Even so, an analysis by the Associated Press found that so far this year the former president’s political operation has spent more on legal fees defending him, his sta and his allies than on travel, rallies and other campaign expenses combined. And commentators say that, while the indictments could help Trump solidify support within his base and win the Republican nomination, his ability to capitalise on them will be more limited in next year’s presidential election, when he will have to win over more sceptical moderate Re- publicans and independents.

In a July Reuters/ Ipsos poll, 37% of independents said the criminal cases against Trump made them less likely to vote for him for president, compared to 8% who said they were more likely to do so.

However, hours before the latest indictment was unsealed, alarm bells were set o among Democrats by a New York Times/Siena opinion poll that showed him running neck and neck with Biden at 43%.

Democratic leaders in Congress welcomed the latest indictment as proof that all are equal before the law. But Biden has been circumspect about commenting on e electoral and legal calendars are set to collide. A New York state criminal trial involving a hush money payment to adult lm star Stormy Daniels is due to start on March 25 next year, and his Florida trial in a federal classied documents case is scheduled to begin on 20 May. Both would take place just months before the November election, as might a third trial in the case centred on his 2020 election lies.

Trump’s trials and tribulations.

But plenty of analysts agree that the White House should resist the temptation to weigh in on Trump’s woes.