Who cares about Donald Trump's crimes? GOP appeal grows as walls close in

[marmar]

Who cares about Donald Trump's crimes? GOP appeal grows as walls close in
The monumental problem Republicans face is that it doesn't matter if he's indicted, on trial or even in jail

By HEATHER DIGBY PARTON
Columnist
PUBLISHED MARCH 13, 2023 9:00AM (EDT)


(Salon) It was reported on Friday that Donald Trump's former lawyer, Michael Cohen, will be testifying before a grand jury today. This is widely considered to be leading to a probable indictment of Trump in the Stormy Daniels hush money case after the Manhattan DA, Alvin Bragg, invited the former president to testify last week. Apparently, prosecutors routinely give that option to targets they are about to charge with a crime.

You'll recall that the case pertains to the hush money scheme cooked by Trump and the National Inquirer back in 2016 to pay off women who slept with Donald Trump. The Daniels case ended up being a criminal investigation when it was revealed that Cohen bought her story through a shell company and was later reimbursed by Trump personally. Cohen went to jail for his part in this and his indictment left no doubt that he was doing the bidding of Trump who was nonetheless not charged. It appears that Bragg may have decided to rectify that.

....(snip)....

Here we have a former president, and current Republican front-runner for the GOP nomination, as the target or subject of criminal investigations and massive civil litigation. And these cases run the gamut from tawdry payoffs to a porn star and the defamation of a woman who accuses him of rape to massive financial crimes, electoral fraud, espionage and sedition. These cases are going to be rolling out over the course of months as the presidential race is heating up.

Everyone is aware of this and yet, it doesn't seem to be a deal breaker.

In fact, to the extent that the GOP establishment and some voters are second-guessing a third Trump campaign, it is rarely mentioned that he is a one-man crime spree. Their only concern is that they really want to win and they aren't sure that he has it in him to go another round. However, if he manages to pull off a primary win you can be sure that they'll be right on board all the way, indictments or no indictments.

....(snip)....

The monumental problem Republicans face is that it doesn't matter if he's indicted, on trial or in jail, there are some voters who will not vote for anyone but him as long as he's in the mix. And he has said repeatedly that he will not drop out, no matter what. One of his rivals could get 70% of the delegates and he will still have that 30% and they will be with him or no one. They're in it for Trump. And the party just can't get around that. ...........(more)

https://www.salon.com/2023/03/13/cares-about-donald-crimes-appeal-grows-as-walls-close-in/

[Walleye]

1. I don't think they believe he will actually get criminally indicted yet. Wait till it happens

[edhopper]

2. As do many of us.

Difference is we think he is guilty.

[Walleye]

3. They think he's guilty, too, they just love seeing him get away with it

[edhopper]

4. Good point

the "values" Party at work.

[Walleye]

5. I think many will drop him when he no longer gets away with it. Hope so

[fightforfreedom]

6. Lets wait and see what happens after Trump is indicted, multiple times.

The Republican primary debates are going to be nuts. An indicted Trump on the same stage as Pence and others debating J6. Think about that for a moment.

[Arazi]

7. I 100% agree with this. Indictments won't make any difference for his supporters

It’s a cult and his persecution only reinforces their belief that the “deep state” is targeting #Traitor because he’s a threat to them.

Ergo, it only makes them support him more if multiple prosecutors indict him.