Trump’s indictment scrambles the 2024 race — and both parties are feeling it: NYT
April 05, 2023
A front-runner facing felony charges along with three other criminal investigations and several lawsuits would be a deal-breaker for almost any candidate in normal times.
But if the indictment of former President Donald Trump on 34 felonies in connection with alleged hush money payments to Stormy Daniels is any indication, these aren’t normal times.
The dearth of Republicans willing to publicly express criticism of the former president, along with the muted reaction of Democrats, shows the extent to which American politics has changed in the age of Trump, The New York Times reports in an article that ran under the headline “Trump’s Charges Bring Doubts, Hopes and Uncertainty in Both Parties.”
The Times’ Jonathan Weisman, Katie Glueck and Jazmine Ulloa write that “The failure of Mr. Trump’s rivals for the Republican nomination to go on offense — indeed, their willingness to defend him — underscored the centrality of the former president in the G.O.P. His opponents appeared to be using the same playbook that a crowded field of White House hopefuls ran in 2016, laying back, absorbing Mr. Trump’s blows and hoping external factors would take him down.”
The indictment appears to have given Trump’s candidacy a boost, according to Katon Dawson, a South Carolina Republican Party member, who previously served as the state’s party chair, and helped launch former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley's presidential campaign.
“Trump just got a big old shot in the arm with people who don’t like where we are and don’t trust the government,” Dawson told The Times.
“They are frightened of the unfairness that seems to be coming from the judiciary right now.”
Even for evangelicals who might ordinarily be squeamish about the charges facing Trump, their view of the former president is settled science, according to Rev. Robert Jeffress, a Texas megachurch pastor who delivered an opening prayer last month at Trump’s Waco rally.
“This has already been litigated by evangelicals in 2016 and 2020,” Jeffress told The Times “And I don’t think evangelicals want to re-litigate it.”
Democrats appear to be mixed in their view of Trump’s indictment.
Some expressed concern over the allegations in the Stormy Daniels case, but it’s not top of mind for others, the report said.
“Hopefully we’re talking about actual issues and the future of the country and things kind of at that level rather than worrying about” court proceedings, Rep. Mark Pocan (D-Wis.).
“I don’t think that’s probably what the average person is going to be talking about. But it certainly gives them an idea of who Donald Trump is as a person and as a candidate.”
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