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Schnecksville, Pennsylvania – On a chilly, wind-swept weekend night in rural Pennsylvania, former President Donald Trump announced an unprecedented new phase in his 2024 candidacy: campaigning while on trial in criminal court. I foretold that I would do it.
Trump’s campaign tactics from the courts will be in full swing on Monday as jury selection begins in his trial on charges that he tried to hide hush money payments before the 2016 election. His appearance in court and his re-election campaign have already clashed in civil litigation, but Monday marks the start of the former president’s first criminal trial.
“I’m proud to do what I can do for you,” Trump told thousands of supporters Saturday night at a fairgrounds in Schnecksville, Pennsylvania, near Allentown. Please enjoy watching.
During and after the trial, which could last two months, President Trump plans to use campaign rallies, press conferences and social media posts to amplify his long-standing claims: the hush money trial and The three other criminal cases pending against him are politically motivated attempts to destroy his campaign.
There is no evidence that the federal and state authorities suing Trump are attacking his re-election bid.
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Nevertheless, Trump’s supporters who braved the wind and cold to see him at the fairgrounds next to the Schnecksville Fire Department said they would support him no matter what.. Some, like President Trump, have expressed concern that legal issues could erode support among independents, especially if he is convicted.
“They’re trying to kill us with a thousand slashes,” said Stace Hawthorne, 57, a housewife and Trump supporter from Atglen, Pennsylvania.
Will Donald Trump’s trial change his strategy in 2024?
Conviction or not, the hush money trial is unlikely to sway President Trump’s Republican base.
“They’re trying to take him out,” said Connie Collins, 68, a former teacher in Coopersburg, Pennsylvania, who has been accused of Trump’s claims since the hush money indictment was handed down more than a year ago. I repeated what I had done.
In the New York lawsuit, President Trump is accused of falsifying business records to conceal hush money payments to multiple women. Prosecutors say Trump’s goal was to keep her quiet about her relationship with him so as not to influence voters in the run-up to the 2016 presidential election.
During the Republican primary, polls showed that Trump’s indictment may have contributed to the former president’s rise among right-wing and conservative voters. But polls also show that moderates and independent voters who support Republican challenger Nikki Haley will not support Trump in the general election, especially if he is convicted.
Republican pollster Whit Ayers predicted that essentially any verdict in the New York case would reinforce long-held perceptions of Trump.. If convicted, the former president is expected to continue calling the incident a political attack.
An acquittal or hung jury, on the other hand, would favor Trump because it would “test his claims” on all cases against him.
“It’s hard to imagine that changing many people’s minds,” Ayers said.
Pollster Frank Luntz said Trump’s voters are stuck because “they think he’s the victim, that it’s all a witch hunt, that there’s partisan politics behind it.” Maybe it’s because I’m thinking about it.”
“He’s getting the most victim votes,” Lantz said.
Campaigning around the courthouse
Trump complained at a rally at an amusement park in eastern Pennsylvania that he was “going to be made to sit through” what he called a “show trial.”
This is not the first time Trump has protested his campaign or court schedule. In February, after a hush-money lawsuit was overdue, Trump told reporters over the weekend, “I’ll be here during the day and campaign at night.”
He added: “I can’t campaign as hard because they want me to be nice and busy.”
Former presidents are required to attend criminal court proceedings, unlike civil proceedings. But with the 2024 general election just seven months away, Trump and his aides say he will be traveling on weekends and occasionally weeknights, holding fundraisers and consulting in battleground states like Pennsylvania and Michigan. The plan is to hold meetings with the government and campaign events.
The hush money trial is also scheduled to adjourn Wednesday, giving the court a chance to address other issues and giving Trump a chance to campaign.
As he did in civil trials and pretrial hearings, Trump is expected to speak to the media as he enters and exits the courtroom, and possibly both.
After the March 25 hearing in the hush money case, President Trump held a brief press conference near his office building on Wall Street, which is likely to serve as a model for the coming days of the trial. .
Trump’s other criminal cases
In addition to the 2024 hush money lawsuit, Trump is accused of trying to steal the 2020 election from President Joe Biden in a federal lawsuit and a state lawsuit in Georgia. He is also accused of mishandling classified documents in a federal case involving a raid on his Mar-a-Lago home.
But one wild card that could upset the case is an upcoming Supreme Court hearing on Trump’s unexpected claim that he has immunity from prosecution. The debate centers on a federal indictment focused on the 2020 White House election.
Special Prosecutor Jack Smith had planned to begin the case in early March, but that schedule was delayed by the high court’s decision to hold a pretrial immunity hearing.
The priority now lies in the hush money scandal and the Trump campaign’s opposition to it. In the meantime, President Trump will continue his efforts to postpone other trials until after Election Day, November 5th.
Meanwhile, President Trump is also trying to delay the case in Georgia with a pretrial appeal centered on a complaint against Fulton County District Attorney Fannie Willis.
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