Donald Trump still controls the Republican presidential primary despite his mounting criminal accusations, and his rivals will have a difficult time defeating him. The first event involving all of the main GOP candidates on one stage—an American Idol-style audition in Iowa, the nation’s first caucus state—was overshadowed by Trump’s mounting legal risk.
If Trump is the nominee, a legal complication that could hurt him in the general election won’t be brought up by his closest competitors for fear of alienating the majority of his still-significant grassroots support.
Trump’s campaign
Minor candidates, who had far less to lose, did take on the elephants in the room that were stampeding, but they were met with silence or a barrage of boos as a result. Trump was unable to escape the fact that his campaign appears to be more about regaining the president than it is about implementing an agenda that will likely be much more severe and disruptive than it was during his first term and sweeping away his criminal exposure.
Since new charges were filed against him by special counsel Jack Smith over his storage of secret documents at his Florida home after leaving office, Trump made his first significant public appearance.
- Trump dominates the Republican primary amid increasing criminal accusations, challenging rivals.
- Trump faces new charges over secret document storage.
- Trump faces special counsel inquiry for the 2020 election defeat, Capitol attack, and confidential documents.
A flurry of cases that would require him to spend time on the campaign road and in court next year was mostly disregarded by him. He did criticize the Biden administration for using justice as a political tool, in his opinion.
Trump has stated that he anticipates being indicted in a separate special counsel inquiry concerning his attempt to reverse his 2020 election defeat and his actions leading up to his supporters’ mob attack on the US Capitol, in addition to the case involving the confidential documents.
In addition, he will stand trial in March in Manhattan in a case involving a hush money payment to an adult film actress.
Trump’s top detractors avoided criticizing him on stage. Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida stepped up his criticism of Trump’s legal predicament, although he did so off camera. Mike Pence, the former vice president, subtly questioned Trump’s eligibility for further office while remaining silent about his former White House colleague.
There is now no indication that Iowa will experience the weight of legal threats. Trump is not holding many campaign stops in Iowa in addition to the dinner. He travels to Erie, Pennsylvania on Saturday to have a campaign event in front of what is probably going to be an even friendlier crowd.
