Trump legal woes force another moment of choosing for GOP
Gavin Wax, leader of the New York Young Republicans, addresses the press during a rally in support of former President Donald Trump and in opposition to the potential criminal indictment sought by New York County District Attorney Alvin Bragg on Monday, March 20, 2023, in front of the New York Criminal Court building in New York. (AP Photo/Bryan Woolston)
BY STEVE PEOPLES, FARNOUSH AMIRI AND LISA MASCAROORLANDO, FLA. (AP) ā From the moment he rode down the Trump Tower escalator to announce his first presidential campaign, a searing question has hung over the Republican Party: Is this the moment to break from Donald Trump?
Elected Republicans have wavered at times ā whether it was Trumpās condemnation of John McCainās war record, his racist attack against a Mexican-American judge, his sexually predatory language caught on video, his alleged extramarital affairs, his decision to side with Russian President Vladimir Putin over U.S. intelligence, his promotion of false allegations of election fraud and his incitement of a violent mob that threatened the lives of lawmakers in both parties.
But after almost eight years of near-constant scandal, Republicans have ultimately rallied behind Trump over and over and over again.
Now, on the eve of a new presidential campaign season, that loyalty is being tested anew as Trump prepares for the possibility that he may soon become the first former U.S. president charged with a crime. New York prosecutors are wrapping up their probe into whether Trump engaged in an illegal hush money scheme involving a porn actress.
āThis is another moment ā not just this indictment, but the others likely to follow ā where Republicans have the opportunity to break with Trump,ā said Sarah Longwell, a vocal Republican Trump critic and founder of the Republican Accountability Project. āIf they fail to do so, theyāll have no one to blame but themselves when Trump is the nominee again.ā
So far, at least, the vast majority of the Republican Party appears to have made its choice.
As charges loom, many party leaders have begun to defend the former president ā even as other Republicans with far less baggage line up against him in the nascent 2024 Republican presidential primary.
Former Vice President Mike Pence, a likely presidential contender, said over the weekend that Americans donāt want to see Trump indicted. Another 2024 Republican prospect, New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu, said there is a sense that the former president is being unfairly attacked. New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, a frequent Trump critic also eyeing a White House bid, also said New York prosecutors may be unfairly prosecuting Trump.
There are cracks in such support, however.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, Trumpās strongest prospective rival, offered a mixed assessment when asked to address the potential indictment on Monday.
āI donāt know what goes into paying hush money to a porn star to secure silence over some type of alleged affair,ā DeSantis said as some in the audience laughed uncomfortably. āBut what I can speak to is that if you have a prosecutor who is ignoring crimes happening every single day in his jurisdiction and he chooses to go back many many years ago to try to use something about porn star hush money payments, thatās an example of pursuing a political agenda and weaponizing the office. And I think thatās fundamentally wrong.ā
The ordeal has pushed Republicans back into an uncomfortably familiar place -- playing defense for Trump as he grapples with another scandal. The situation dominated the conversation at the House GOP conference in Orlando, where dozens of congressional Republicans gathered this week.
Many hoped to focus on the partyās legislative priorities and achievements three months into the House majority. Instead, they faced repeated questions about the implications of Trumpās latest legal woes.
Republican lawmakers eager to highlight the partyās gain with Hispanic voters were cornered -- in Spanish and English -- by questions about Trumpās legal troubles and whether heās still the leader of the party.
āObviously I have great respect for the former president of the United States,ā Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart, R-Fla., told The Associated Press. āBut as far as who the leader of the party is, I will tell you right now, I think the leader of the party is the speaker of the House. Itās the highest ranking elected.ā
But Speaker Kevin McCarthy is making clear that he has Trumpās back.
The California Republican called the potential indictment āpure politicsā and slammed New York prosecutors for New York Cityās rising crime rates. Like DeSantis in Tallahassee, Republican lawmakers in Orlando repeatedly attacked New York District Attorney Alan Bragg, calling him a āGeorge Soros-backedā prosecutor.
And instead of using their new clout to advance conservative policy, Republican leaders on Monday announced plans to investigate and interrogate the entities involved in the case against Trump, including the many federal and local prosecutors probing Trumpās actions in various jurisdictions. Beyond the New York hush money case, Trump is facing active criminal investigation in Georgia for his efforts to overturn the 2020 election and by federal prosecutors probing his handling of classified documents, among other issues.
In a letter to Bragg on Monday, House Republicans demanded communications, documents, and testimony relating to the āunprecedented abuse of prosecutorial authority and the potential indictmentā of Trump.
Trumpās legal baggage could prove a political liability in the 2024 general election, but his team has long believed that an indictment could give him a political advantage in the primary by forcing his Republican rivals to come to his defense or risk alienating his fierce political base. They point to the Republican response to the federal raid on Trumpās Florida estate, when virtually the entire GOP, including DeSantis, ultimately defended him.
Some of Trumpās 2024 rivals have privately acknowledged the political risks should they break from the former president at such a critical moment.
To that end, Trump and his allies seized on DeSantisā approach to Trumpās potential arrest as an affront to his MAGA base. The Florida governor said he hoped to stay out of what he called a āmanufactured circus.ā
Donald Trump Jr. condemned DeSantisā response as āpure weakness.ā
Trump himself attacked DeSantis using his pet nickname for him, āRon DeSanctimoniousā and promoted a decades-old picture of DeSantis posing with young women when he was a high school teacher.
In a message accompanying the photo, Trump mocked DeSantis, going so far as to question his sexuality. The governor, Trump wrote, āwill probably find out about FALSE ACCUSATIONS & FAKE STORIES sometime in the future, as he gets older, wiser, and better known, when heās unfairly and illegally attacked by a woman, even classmates that are āunderageā (or possibly a man!). Iām sure he will want to fight these misfits just like I do!ā
As his party largely lined up behind Trump, some also tried to draw boundaries ā especially as he called for large-scale protests. The message evoked similarities with Trumpās rhetoric that sparked the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol.
āI donāt think people should protest this,ā McCarthy said. Despite Trumpās repeated calls for protests, he added: āI think President Trump, when you talk to him, he doesnāt think that either.ā
Meanwhile, all but a few Republican members of Congress have so far declined to endorse Trumpās 2024 presidential bid. And itās unclear if statements of support in the spring of 2023 will translate into formal endorsements when the primary season takes off in the spring of 2024.
Still, Trumpās biggest supporters were oozing confidence.
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, one of just eight House Republicans who have formally endorsed Trumpās third presidential bid, said Americans should be outraged by the so-called political persecution of a former president.
If Trump is indicted, she predicted, Trump will win in a landslide.
House Republican conference chair, Rep. Elise Stefanik, remains one of Trumpās strongest supporters in Congress. She said she spoke to the former president earlier Monday.
āI think youāll see his poll numbers go up,ā predicted Stefanik, who has also signed onto Trumpās 2024 bid. āHeās never been in a stronger position.ā
Peoples reported from New York. Associated Press writer Jill Colvin in New York contributed.
This story was first published on March 20. It is being republished to correct party affiliation for Republican Rep. Diaz-Balart.
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