Republicans and consultants say that despite four separate indictments against him, former President Donald Trump’s 2024 momentum doesn’t appear to be on the decline.
Earlier this week, the district attorney’s office in Fulton County, Georgia, indicted President Trump and 18 others with a range of charges concerning his efforts after the 2020 election. Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis gave President Trump, who was charged with 13 counts, until Aug. 25 to surrender.
But former Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, who was against him in the 2016 Republican primary before dropping out, said he is skeptical that the former president likely won’t face any political consequences relating to the four indictments.
“Anybody else, circumstances would be much different,” he told The Associated Press in a recent interview. “But one of the key things that President Trump has done well on is kind of positioned this as, ‘They’re going after me because I dared to take on the machine, I dared to take on the swamp, I dared to take on the establishment.’”
Elaborating to the AP, Walker said he believes there are still many voters “who’ve been let down so many times” by politicians and still “want someone who’s not afraid of anyone.” He added, “This makes the point that he just may be doing right for the average American because the left is out to get him.”
And Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, a Trump ally who described the Fulton County charges as “disgusting,” forecast that the latest indictment would enrage the country” and boost President Trump’s chances, even in the general election against a Democrat opponent.
“I think every American who cares about the rule of law should be enraged by what they saw,” Mr. Gingrich told the AP. “He’ll be stronger, and he’ll win the general election.”
While some analysts have said that the legal challenges could be a concern for President Trump, some argue that GOP primary voters likely won’t be swayed by them.
“I would say the number of indictments nor does the content of the indictment have any impact on Trump’s polling numbers,” Arizona-based GOP strategist and Trump campaign alum Brian Seitchik told The Hill on Tuesday.
Indeed, a recent poll from YouGov-Economist found that President Trump has 55 percent support among GOP primary voters. Meanwhile, no other candidate has been able to make a breakthrough, including Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who got 16 percent, or Vivek Ramaswamy, who obtained 4 percent in the survey.
“The only issue that could shake Trump voters away is a piercing of his Teflon armor,” Mr. Seitchik continued. “If he loses in either Iowa or New Hampshire, I suspect the national numbers would change rapidly.”
Saul Anuzis, a Republican strategist and former Michigan GOP chair, told the outlet that Republican primary voters likely won’t be swayed by the latest charges. “I think that those who want to move on have already been moving on, right?” he said. “I mean, this may be a confirmation. This may be another excuse.”
“Most of these voters have already decided or are inclined to have already moved on,” Mr. Anuzis added. “The hardcore Trump voters are not being moved by these, at least not at this time, or at least I haven’t seen it at this time based on the initial indictments.”
Republicans, he said, generally believe the indictments against President Trump are politicized and lack merit. He noted that some “are looking at it on the Republican side as being way too politicized, that these prosecutions are basically a witch hunt, whether they agree or disagree with President Trump.”
So far this year, the onetime president has been indicted in four separate investigations, including one concerning alleged payments made to Stormy Daniels during the 2016 campaign, one about his alleged mishandling of classified materials, and a federal probe that related to the aftermath of the 2020 election and the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol breach.
The latest indictment from Ms. Willis’ office came after she launched an investigation after it was reported there was a call between President Trump and Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger about the results of the 2020 contest.
Some analysts, however, have said that the indictments may come back to haunt President Trump in the future.
“I don’t think there’s going to be much movement off of that indictment,” GOP strategist Keith Naughton told The Hill, referring to the Fulton County case. “I think that as the months go on, you’re probably going to see some erosion of Trump’s support. It’s really hard to say how much.”
As for President Trump, he’s spent much of the week criticizing the recent charges against him, arguing they’re politically biased.
