“Now you can frame the lawsuits as a leftist campaign by a corrupt government against an innocent man who just wants to do his best for the people,” Hammelburg explains. That framework is adopted by most of his supporters. “The frame is ‘don’t touch our people’, they might think Trump is an asshole, but he is our asshole,” says the US correspondent of the sentiment among Trump supporters.
“It remains to be seen whether he can continue to get away with it.”
Hopeful thinking
Trump, meanwhile, is sticking to his own rhetoric by saying he has done nothing wrong. “He keeps insisting that this lawsuit is just one part of a series of other charges and he claims he is the only candidate who can save this corrupt country,” Hammelburg said. “It remains to be seen whether he can continue to get away with it.”
Because although several Republican politicians still support him, the relationship between Trump and other Republicans is also starting to show more and more cracks. For example, many Republicans are particularly annoyed by the former president’s behavior. “A former minister said this federal lawsuit could really cost him,” Hammelburg says. So the combination of the lawsuits and his own attitude might bring down his own sword, but “it could also be wishful thinking.”
Inviolable
Trump is still head and shoulders at the top when it comes to the Republican nomination battle for president. According to the American correspondent, it is difficult for many Republican competitors to oppose Trump. “Much of the Republican faction in the White House supports Trump, so as an opposing candidate you have no choice but to align yourself. And if you want to go into battle, it has to be about matters other than lawsuits.’
“According to the polls, he still has the best chance of winning, at least the nomination”
According to Hammelburg, the former president in question currently has two priorities: to delay the lawsuits and to win the presidential candidacy and then the elections. “Only when he is president is he inviolable. And according to polls he still has the best chance of winning, at least the nomination, ”said the American correspondent.