Trump laughs up his sleeve

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Donald Trump (76) is already the 45th president of the US. But in many ways, he’s been a president from the very beginning. He was the first president who had not previously served in the military or held political office. The first to provoke an attack on a government facility for losing an election. And he is the first president in American history to be impeached.

On Thursday (local time) it was announced that prosecutors in Manhattan had decided to charge Trump with a hush money payment to porn actress Stormy Daniels, 44, that he allegedly made during the 2016 presidential campaign. With this indictment, March 30, 2023 became a day before the history books.

In the pre-Trump era, an incident like this would have marked the end of a politician’s political career. US presidential candidates have withdrawn from the race due to far less scandalous incidents. But not Trump.

Presidential historian Michael Beschloss, 67, found the right words in an MSNBC interview: “Before tonight, the presidents of this country were kings.” Could they also be criminals in the future?

Republicans are captivated by the stories of Trump’s old wives

One thing is certain: Trump once again got what he wanted from the indictment. All the spotlights are on him. He likes to play the victim. As early as the weekend, he wisely claimed at a campaign event in Texas that the “regime” of current President Joe Biden (80) was attacking him. And in a sense “which comes straight out of the Stalinist Russia horror show”. On Thursday he wrote: “This is political persecution and electoral interference at the highest level. The Democrats have lied, cheated, and stolen in their obsession to “get Trump.”

It is the great American tragedy that methods like these – hardly comprehensible to non-Americans – arguably benefit Trump. That prosecutor Alvin Bragg (49) is a (black) Democrat from New York only feeds the Republicans. The fact that Michael Cohen (56), former lawyer and convict of Trump, is a star witness will only make the elephants boil more. And the fact that the case is now seven years old simply makes it irrelevant in the eyes of its supporters.

Even the biggest competitor shows sympathy

Even Ron DeSantis, 44, governor of Florida and possibly Trump’s biggest competitor in the upcoming presidential race, seemed to be at a loss for words. He even sided with the ex-president on Twitter: “Arming the justice system to advance a political agenda is turning the rule of law upside down.”

Many Republicans agree and rail against “extreme Democrats who use the government as a weapon to attack their political opponents,” as Steve Scalise, 57, the Republican majority leader in the House of Representatives, puts it.

An attack with likely minimal consequences for Trump and his supporters. It could even catapult him to the position of crowd favorite for the 2024 election. Because in a country divided by a “you versus us” mentality, Republicans will side with the so-called falsely accused of “Make America great.” again” hero.

Democrats can only be happy for a short time

And the Democrats? They can be happy in the here and now. Democratic Rep. Maxine Waters, 84, tweeted, “Sometimes justice works!” But once it comes to the election, there will be no more joy.

Impeaching Trump could help him win the 2024 presidential election. Unless he is actually charged and put behind bars – but even then nothing is certain.

Source: Blick