Happy “Trump got indicted” to you all! Trump has become the first former president to come under criminal charges. And not even just a few—he’s been arraigned and indicted on 34 felonies, with lots of evidence, related to allegedly giving Michael Cohen hush money to pay off Stormy Daniels’ (and other women’s) silence. Unfortunately, this kind of arrest doesn’t end with Trump giving a mug shot, getting handcuffed, and being carted off to jail—at least for now. If that ever happens (and really, don’t get your hopes up), it wouldn’t be until at least after his next in-person hearing. Even more unfortunately, we have to wait until December for that.
There’s no doubt as to how Trump will be spending that time. He pre-announced a speech from his home in Mar-a-Lago on the night of his arraignment. A couple of weeks ago, he went on social media to opine that he would be “arrested” before he had any evidence on that front. And he continues to post about how he’s been “indicated” (sic, sigh), always emphasizing that he’s the “frontrunner” of the Republican presidential race “by far.” In other words: over the next eight months, he’s going to very vocally use the possibility of his arrest to further politicize the fact that he allegedly did something objectively illegal. In order to bolster his 2024 presidential campaign. Yippee.
How can the indictment affect Trump’s campaign?
Even though it’s barely been a week since Trump’s indictment was announced, this has already worked. Trump raised $4 million dollars in the 48 hours after his indictment was announced. $4 million!! Trump is probably going literally to fund his campaign on the threat of his arrest.
And his fundraising riches might be the least of what we have to worry about. Because right-wing networks like Fox News and Newsmax have also caved to parroting Trump’s insistence that his indictment is a political attack. This coming from the guy who famously had his followers chanting “lock her up!” about his presidential opponent in 2016. But the irony here is obviously lost to most right-wing pundits, even though it’s slapping everyone in the face with enough force to give us all black eyes.
All of this is notable because Trump’s next hearing, currently scheduled for December 4, is just in time for the holidays!—I mean, only two months before the pivotal Iowa caucus. That’s close enough for the hearings to have a very fresh and direct impact on voters’ decisions.
Presidents aren’t god-kings, as much as Trump obviously wants that to be true. They’re citizens, just like the rest of us. And when a citizen breaks the law, they can be arrested. The fact that Trump got to immediately go home after his rendezvous at the courthouse is already an immense privilege that most Americans—especially Americans of color—don’t get.
So brace yourself. We might be in for a bumpy few months. But if outlets and social media in general don’t allow Trump to control the narrative over his arrest, it will certainly be a little less bumpy.
(featured image: Andrew Lichtenstein/Corbis via Getty Images)
