Former National Security Adviser John Bolton, Trump’s sworn enemy who has published an entire book with the sole purpose of exposing his former boss, is unhappy with the news of Trump’s impeachment. Has he changed his position? Of course not, he would rather see him behind bars. However, he fears that the trial will play a reverse role and will be in the interest of the former president and increase his popularity and chances to return victoriously to the White House.
Bolton is not the only one who takes such position, but even his Democratic opponents, who believe that Trump will use the trial to mobilize his supporters and strengthen the resolve of his group, thus restoring the tremendous momentum that made him president in 2017.
Even his current Republican rivals, such as Vice President Mike Pence and Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, took a defensive stance and considered the prosecution to be politicized and motivated by revenge to eliminate Trump and prevent him from running in the elections.
They certainly wish that Trump would disappear from the scene so that the way would be open for them. But they realize that standing against him in this file will not be in their interest and will turn a large segment of the Republicans against them when they desperately need them.
As for Trump, perhaps this trial will be the kiss of life. A kiss that was unexpected and perhaps came at the right time, nearly a year and a half before the presidential elections. As for why the kiss of life, because Trump’s popularity was damaged after the events of the Capitol attack. Back then, he appeared as a rogue president as the long-standing traditions of the presidency did not prevent him from inciting the mob. This was followed by claims of electoral fraud, which frightened a wide segment of the population, who saw in it a threat to their political system and the foundations of the state.
He tried to use these events to justify that he was wronged and persecuted, and that the elections were stolen from him. Only his obsessed audience, who considers him as Christ the Savior, believed his arguments. But in reality, he appeared as a troubled man who would do anything to not be labeled a loser.
He clung to these claims, but they once again led him to lose most of the figures he supported in the midterm elections. Those elections were a referendum on his eroding popularity and the futility of his electoral strategy.
It is clear that his audience was exhausted and his support base was divided, with the emergence of bright names, most notably the successful and charismatic governor of Florida, whom many Republicans see as the future of the party that Trump has torn apart.
That’s how the picture was: Trump 2023 is a faded, weary version of Trump 2015, until the story of porn actress Stormy Daniels rose from the ashes and offered him the scandal and the kiss he’d been waiting for. He exploited it as expected from the outset in his campaign. He cleverly announced that he would be arrested, and occupied the front news headlines.
Trump, who knows how to deal with television more than any other leader, and masters the art of being the center of attention, will turn the trial today in all its details into fuel to restore his glow. Such prosecutions, which usually scare leaders and politicians who try to avoid scandals, are Trump’s favorite game.
He will not mind appearing as the “criminal” Trump in handcuffs, if it is beneficial to his image as the victorious “president”.
That is why he is expected to turn the trial into a long drama that begins today and ends only with the announcement of the name of the next president.
The other useful point for Trump this time is that his previous arguments of victimhood were incoherent and fell quickly. But now the context is different. The argument of persecution and political harassment is strong and convincing to many. According to the latest polls, there is a popular division around it, but the majority of Republicans are aligned behind it. Even those, who do not support him, see his acquittal as a nightmare.
This is the first time that an American president has been dragged into court like a murderer. We are facing a new unprecedented political and historical scene, and it is certainly the first chapter in an exciting and long drama.
