Republicans are rushing to defend former President Trump after a Manhattan grand jury voted to indict him over allegedly paying hush money to cover up his alleged affair during the 2016 presidential election.
Many are confident that Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg’s “politically motivated” case will make Trump stronger in 2024. Since the news, the former president has been put back at the top of the polls, boosted his campaign fundraising, and make it easy to expose Democrat’s “witch hunt” against him to the American people.
Kevin Madden, a Republican strategist who worked as a senior adviser for Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah) during his presidential bid in 2012, said that Trump will use this to his every advantage to secure the 2024 presidential nomination.
“He’s going to use this to his advantage. His team has already signaled they’re going to paint this as politically motivated,” Madden said, adding that if it were any other candidate facing the indictment, it would have ruined them politically.
For now, Republicans are standing behind Trump. But his indictment also paves a tough road ahead for candidates who choose to run against him in the election. In any other situation, an event like this would make it easy to tear down an opponent. However, most know that Bragg’s case against Trump is not steady, and he is only going after him to destroy the 45th president.
“Republicans are going to rally around Trump, and so the question is: How do you find a way to go after him without pissing off a lot of the people that you’re trying to win over?” the strategist said. “I don’t know. I have a good answer right now.”
Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-Fla) is Trump’s top rival in the 2024 election, should he run. However, several strategists suggest the indictment will make it difficult for the Florida governor to outshine Trump since the media is so fixated on him.
DeSantis said he would not “assist in any extradition request” regarding Trump, calling the indictment “un-American.”