Analysis: How Trump will use Stormy Daniels case to fire up his campaign for 2024 election
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Loading... - Ayeesha Deng
- 21 Mar 2023
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Supporters of former U.S. President Donald Trump attend a gathering outside his Mar-a-Lago resort after he posted a message on his Truth Social account saying that he expects to be arrested on Tuesday, and called on his supporters to protest, in Palm Beach, Florida, U.S., March 20, 2023. REUTERS/Ricardo Arduengo
Donald Trump will try to turn any indictment to his advantage by stoking anger among core supporters over what they see as the weaponization of the justice system, though it may also push more Republicans tired of the drama around him to look for another presidential candidate. A Manhattan grand jury could bring charges as soon as this week against the former Republican president for alleged hush money payments made to porn star Stormy Daniels during his 2016 presidential campaign. Trump has denied having an affair with Daniels, whose legal name is Stephanie Clifford.
While the prosecution of a former president is unprecedented in U.S. history and places Trump in legal peril, it will likely be viewed by his most loyal supporters as politically motivated and only harden their determination to back him in the 2024 Republican primary, party officials, strategists and political analysts told Reuters. "I think this will strengthen the resolve of his supporters," said Ford O'Connell, a Republican strategist who represented Trump in many media appearances during the 2020 presidential campaign.
But to win the party's nomination, Trump will likely have to broaden his support beyond the 25%-30% of the Republican electorate generally thought to be in his corner no matter what, especially if the field of Republican candidates narrows in the coming months. An indictment could make it difficult for him to broaden his appeal. Larry Sabato, director of the Center for Politics at the University of Virginia, said some Republicans could be swayed by the charges to back Florida Governor Ron DeSantis or another potential candidate without Trump's legal baggage, which has grown considerably since he left the White House in 2021.
"It’s not good for Trump, the question is how bad for Trump it is," said Sabato. "There could be multiple indictments ... it begins to add up to a major problem."
Trump's campaign has accused the Manhattan District Attorney's office, as well as prosecutors pursuing separate cases against him in Georgia and at the federal level, of doing the bidding of Democrats out to stop his re-election campaign. Read More…
