Former President Trump awaited as supporters

at Mar-a-Lago

after his appointment on Tuesday, Kari Lake

walked into a ballroom of people cheering and chanting her name. the

defeated the Arizona gubernatorial nominee

Appearing at Trump’s Florida estate came as no surprise. Lake has emerged as one of the biggest political stars of Trump’s Republican P party and one of the loudest voices of the election denial movement, which was sparked by the former president’s failed 2020 bid. But since

Trump’s indictment

Faced with a New York City grand jury on allegations related to the alleged cover-up of a 2016 hush money payment during the 2016 presidential election, many far-right figures like Lake seem to be treating the moment as a clarion call for GOP politicians with aspirations for higher office. ace

the former president’s legal troubles are growing, Lake and others

well-known Trump ally

to have

rushed to his defense and seized the moment to burn their reputation as true believers while further increasing their stature among the grassroots, seemingly hoping to be named Trump’s vice presidential choice in 2024.

Speak to reporters ahead

officially

Trump’s comments

tuesday night

Lake made her loyalty clear

wax residues

unwavering.

“If these people who are coming after him think they are going to turn the people against Trump, they have done the exact opposite,” Lake told reporters. “MAGA is going to get so big their heads are going to spin.”

Lake isn’t the only far-right figure eager to feature her

dedication faithful

to Trump.

In one of the more visible displays of allegiance to Trump, Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) led a demonstration outside the Manhattan courthouse where Trump was being indicted on Tuesday. Later that day, she flew to Florida Mar-a-Lago to stand with Trump during his return to Mar-a-Lago to address supporters’ comments. Greene later in an interview Greene

compared

Trump’s

arrest to

that of

Jesus Christ and former South African President Nelson Mandela.

“Trump joins some of the most incredible people in history being arrested today,” she told conservative outlet Right Side Broadcasting. “Nelson Mandela was arrested, was in prison. Jesus Jesus was arrested and killed by the Roman government.”

Costs

Trump faces have drawn almost universal criticism

by

members of the GOP, including one of the former president

sharpest

slanderer,

Senator Mitt Romney (R-Utah), who voted twice to convict Trump during impeachment proceedings. But Trump’s likely opponents in 2024, inclusive

Governor of Florida

Ron DeSantis and

former vice president

Mike Pence

have largely tried to evade discussion of the charges in New York without calling

the public prosecutor’s office politically.

Meanwhile, Trump’s predicament presented an opportunity for those on the Republican Party’s right flank to bolster their political bona fides with the GOP base and increase their visibility ahead of the 2024 presidential election.

Republican politicians fall into two camps, said GOP strategist Mike DuHaime, those fearful of upsetting Trump and his followers, and those seeking

to build their profile

.

There’s now an incredible ecosystem of this kind of Trumpy wing of the party where you become a celebrity and then you hang out with the My Pillow man [Mike Lindell]said DuHaime, who previously worked with former President George W. Bush and the late Republican Senator John McCain of Arizona. It won’t let you choose in a general election. Many of them have proven that.

More has become

One of the most

vocal Trump supporters in the country, perpetuating disinformation long used by the former president to undermine public confidence in the process

.

Last month, Lake

suffered another legal blow

when the Arizona Supreme Court refused to consider most of her appeals in its efforts to overturn the

Arizona gubernatorial race results.

After the indictment was announced last week, Lake said in a statement that she stood “unequivocally” with the former president and called on others to do the same. While Trump was on his way to New York to meet, she tweeted words of encouragement.

As suspicions about her political future grow, Lake

told the New York Times in February

that she’s considering running for the U.S. Senate in the Arizona Senate, even though she’s focused on the litigation surrounding her gubernatorial campaign. She has also traveled to Iowa, which is usually taken as a sign that someone has presidential aspirations, where she will hold three meetings this week.

When asked if she would accept an invitation to become Trump’s running mate, Lake declined the question, insisting that her efforts to reverse the results of the 2022 Arizona gubernatorial race will be successful.

He will be the nominee, Lake told reporters. And I believe I’m going to be the governor of Arizona. I won that race.

Before Trump selected Pence as his vice presidential nominee, he appeared to audition a number of candidates, including former House Speaker Newt Gingrich and former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, before making a decision in July 2016.

This time, if Trump becomes the Republican Party’s presidential nominee, he can choose someone staunchly loyal to him, even if they don’t appeal to the moderates and independents he needs to win in the general election.

He wants someone he can trust, said Sarah Longwell, an anti-Trump Republican strategist. He learned a lesson from Mike Pence, that the problem with some of these establishments is that they follow the Constitution.

At the same time, as Lake and Greene appear to be auditioning to be Trumps

running mate vice presidential pick

they are too

clot clot

their brands in real time, Longwell said.

Many of these politicians whose identities have been spoofed in the Trump era often seem to understand the basics of the Republican Party a little better than the Republicans of old, said Longwell, who is also the executive director of the Republican Accountability Project, which has told election deniers who are applying.

Recent election cycles have also shown Trump’s ability to boost or defeat a candidate in a crowded Republican primary. He held regular rallies for his endorsed candidates and has hinted that he would give Greene the same treatment if she decided to run for Senate in her home state. “These Republicans in Washington love [Sen.] Mitch McConnell, who is the absolute worst, they need to toughen up. They need to become like Marjorie Taylor Greene,” Trump said at a March 25 rally in Waco, Texas. “Would you like to run for Senate? I’ll fight like crazy for you, I tell you.” For now,

Republican politicians have almost universally condemned Manhattan Dist. Thoughtful Alvin Bragg’s examination of Trump as politically motivated reflects the sentiment of GOP voters.

Polls in recent weeks suggest voters believe politics played a role in the decision to impeach Trump in New York, even though people generally approve of the indictment. A CNN poll released April 3 found that 76% of those polled, including 93% of Republicans and 76% of independents, said politics played a role in the decision to charge. At the same time, 60% of those polled, including 21% of Republicans and 60% of independents, approve of the decision to impeach Trump.

The question is whether GOP support will hold up if other investigations lead to criminal or federal charges. The former president is not expected in court until December for the hush money investigation.

in the meantime

trump

faces two federal investigations led by Special Counsel Jack Smith

the ex president

handling of classified documents after he left office and his efforts to reverse the results of the 2020 election

. Trump’s actions are also at the center of as well

a Georgia

stands

investigate whether he interfered in the 2020 presidential election

in that state

.

We don’t know what the future holds, but it’s certainly possible he’ll be in for a lot more legal trouble between now and the start of the primary, said Scott Jennings, a GOP strategist and political commentator. Will the Republican Party want to nominate someone who is in extreme legal jeopardy and in extreme danger of losing their own freedom?

At Mar-a-Lago, Greene urged the Republicans

scissors behind support

the former chairman.

“They came into office on his back,” Greene told reporters after Trump’s comments. “It’s time for you to stand with President Trump, defend him, support him and end this Democratic witch hunt and government arming.”

Greene declined to say whether other GOP candidates would have to drop out

presidential

race, saying Trump “has been and always will be the front

–

runner.

“He’s the front runner. I don’t see anyone winning any other way. But of course people can run for president if they want to. Greene also declined to say.

who should be his vice president,

Green said, “That hasn’t been discussed.” “That hasn’t been discussed,” she said.

“I don’t think he’s ready

,” she said.

“There’s still some time to go.”

Logan reported from Palm Beach and John from Los Angeles.