As has been reported now, Donald Trump has been twice impeached and thrice indicted. Yet his support base holds him firm. Indeed, each negative in a court of law translates into a positive in the court of public opinion. Thus, he appears to be ably emerging as the dominant figure among Republican voters who share his widespread views.
Arguably Donald Trump made waves as he stepped out in the crowd. He happens to be one of the few politicians who has made the state and federal charges against him a central plank of his campaign platform, casting himself as a martyr. He has thus reportedly shattered the laws of political physics. This reaction moves toward within the combined 78 cases against him across three jurisdictions. He ably turns the cases as not just a spell upon him but his loyal supporters at his various rallies.
He told a congregation in Pennsylvania’s Erie that “They’re not indicting me, they are indicting you.” Republicans have echoed and amplified these talking points with their characteristic fervour. One Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia wrote on X, (formerly Twitter), that she “will still vote for Trump even if he’s in jail”. His political ability is making a point for him as he is unfairly targeted by a justice system supposedly bent upon helping Democrat Joe Biden.
Meanwhile, a policy fellow Bill Whalen at the Hoover Institution think tank in Palo Alto, California, said that “The more the indictments, the better his poll numbers, the easier the argument that it is two standards of justice and Donald Trump is persecuted and picked on,” adding that “It’s very funny, considering he is the pre-eminent bully in American politics, that no one plays the victim card better than Donald Trump.”.
A whiff of criminality or scandal used to be career-ending for politicians. President Richard Nixon resigned over Watergate; Vice-President Spiro Agnew quit after being charged with bribery, tax evasion and conspiracy; Gary Hart’s presidential campaign collapsed due to allegations of an extramarital affair; Anthony Weiner resigned from Congress after a series of sexting scandals.