NEW YORK (AP) — The unprecedented indictment of former President Donald Trump has pushed the 2024 presidential election into uncharted territory, raising the possibility that the frontrunner for the Republican nomination will run for president while facing a trial on criminal charges in New York.
In an acknowledgment of the influence the former president has among the voters who will decide who will be the Republican Party’s nominee in next year’s primaries, those facing Trump were quick to criticize the indictment. Without mentioning him by name, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis called the action “un-American.” Former Vice President Mike Pence, whose life was put in danger after Trump incited an insurrection at the US Capitol, told CNN that the charges were “outrageous.”
These stances point to short-term incentives for Republicans to avoid anything that might upset Trump’s loyal voter base. But the indictment raises strong questions about the future of the Republican Party, especially as Trump faces the possibility of more charges being filed against him in Atlanta and Washington. While all of that could mobilize his supporters, all of this tumult could threaten the GOP’s standing in suburban swing states that have deserted the party in three straight elections, affecting their dominance in the White House, Congress and governorships. clue.
Trump has spent four decades managing to dodge these types of legal issues and expressed confidence again Thursday night, noting that the charges had been brought by “far-left criminals and monsters.”
“This attack on our country has never been seen before,” Trump wrote on his social media site.
Trump “is ready to fight,” his lawyer, Joe Tacopina, told Fox News.
Trump is scheduled to turn himself in to authorities next week on charges related to hush-buying payments made on his behalf during the 2016 presidential campaign. For now, it remains unclear what the repercussions of this will be among voters. Polls showed Trump remains the frontrunner for the Republican Party’s presidential nomination, and his position has not wavered, even amid reports of expected charges.
Trump campaign members and their allies hope the impeachment will serve as a rallying call for their supporters, angering their “Make America Great Again” (MAGA) base, spawning small donations of money and putting potential opponents of Trump in the uncomfortable position of having to defend him, or risk incurring his wrath.
In fact, the Trump campaign began raising money after the news broke, sending an email to supporters with the subject line: “Breaking News: President Trump is Impeached.”
At the first rally of Trump’s 2024 campaign, held in Texas over the weekend, supporters expressed their discomfort with the investigation and insisted that the case would not affect their position.
“It’s a joke,” said Patti Murphy, 63. “It’s just another way they’re trying to push it aside.”
Others in the crowd said their support for Trump had waned since he left the White House, but the fledgling accusation made it more likely they would support him in 2024 because they felt his anger had been justified.
At the same time, there is a slim chance that a criminal trial will help Trump in the general election, especially against independents, who have grown tired of his constant chaos. That has created an opportunity for other Republican figures, such as DeSantis, who are expected to present themselves as defenders of the former president’s policies, but without bringing their baggage with them.
Meanwhile, there was no indication the party was ready to use the impeachment to push Trump aside. Republicans, including members of Congress and Trump’s rivals, quickly defended him in droves. In addition to DeSantis, former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley, who has already declared her candidacy, asserted that the impeachment was “more about revenge than justice.” Former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who is considering a run, accused Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg of “undermining America’s trust in our legal system” while sending a fundraising message after he the news broke.
Trump, for his part, has tried to turn the public against the case. On March 18, amid reports that the NYPD was preparing a possible indictment, he posted a message on his social networking site in which he stated that he expected to be arrested in a matter of days.
While that never happened, Trump used the moment to highlight the weaknesses in the case and to lash out at Bragg with a series of highly personal, and sometimes racist, attacks.
Trump also tried to project force. The night he made that post, he traveled with advisers to a collegiate wrestling championship, where he spent hours greeting supporters and posing for pictures. Back home, the entourage watched a mixed martial arts fight aboard the former president’s plane.
And last weekend, Trump held a rally in Waco, Texas, where he blasted the case against him in front of thousands of people.
People who have spoken with Trump in recent weeks have said he is angry and unconcerned about the charges. Republican Rep. Mark Alford said the former president was “optimistic” at a fundraiser held at his Mar-a-Lago estate the night before he raised the alarm about his possible arrest.
Yet Trump responded angrily when pressured, even as he insisted he wasn’t frustrated.
In addition to the Manhattan case, Trump faces several other investigations, including a Georgia probe into his efforts to overturn the 2020 election results, and a federal investigation into his alleged mishandling of confidential documents.
It remains unclear how the public will respond if Trump ends up facing charges in other cases, particularly if some of them lead to convictions and others are dismissed.
An indictment, and even a guilty plea, does not bar Trump from running for president or being the Republican Party’s nominee.
___ Associated Press writers Paul Weber in Waco, Texas, and Lisa Mascaro in Orlando contributed to this report.
