Donald Trump in court: every lawsuit is the best campaign aid

Verdict against ex-US president - Donald Trump in court: every lawsuit is the best campaign aid

In mid-January, the US Republicans in the state of Iowa will begin selecting their presidential candidate and it would take a medium to very large miracle to stop the conservatives from voting for Donald Trump. In Colorado, some of his opponents, including some from his own party, tried and were successful: a court removed the former US president from the state's primary ballot. Reason: He was partly responsible for the riot on January 6, 2021 - the day countless of his supporters stormed the Capitol in Washington.

Donald Trump appeals to the Supreme Court

Following the ruling, Donald Trump is now officially an insurgent and as such may not run in the presidential election. However, it remains to be seen whether the court's decision will stand, as the Trump team has already announced that it will appeal to the Supreme Court. Whether the appeal has any chance of success is still completely open. If the constitutional judges follow their colleagues from Colorado, other states may also try to remove the former head of state from the ballot. Trump would defend himself against this with all legal means at his disposal.

The Republican perennial candidate can only be right to do so. Because as absurd as it sounds, every court case, every lawsuit, every appeal is a triumph for Trump and increases his popularity. The ex-president has been well ahead in the internal party polls for years, but since the series of lawsuits against him began, his popularity ratings have really taken off.

March 30, 2023: first case against an ex-president

Ron DeSantis, the governor of Florida and for a while Trump's only intra-party opponent, was "only" less than 20 percentage points behind the favorite at the beginning of spring, but then came March 30, when the first indictment against a former president was read out in New York City. The charge: falsifying business records to conceal the payment of hush money to porn actress Stormy Daniels. The defendant reacted in his tried and tested manner and staged himself as the victim of not only a political, but now also a legal "witch hunt". In the following weeks, he gained ten percentage points and passed the 50 percent mark in April.

At the beginning of May, the author E. Jean Carroll won a court case accusing Trump of rape and defamation and was partially vindicated. As a result, his popularity in the polls rose by four percentage points to 56%. And so it goes on: in June, he was charged in Miami with embezzling secret documents, at the beginning of August in Washington with attempting to influence the election and in mid-August in Atlanta also with attempting to manipulate the election. At the beginning of September, his approval rating had reached its highest level to date at almost 59%.

Trump's opponents had high hopes

Trump's opponents had long hoped that his legal difficulties could bring him down. They were wrong. The assumption that the details from the ongoing proceedings would harm him has not been confirmed so far either. Here, too, the opposite seems to be true: Although Trump is infuriating Judge Arthur Engoron with abusive remarks in the New York fraud trial, he is making unwavering gains in the polls: He currently has an average approval rating of 63 percent.

And even in the duel with incumbent US President Joe Biden, he is slowly but surely pulling away: if elected now, Trump would have a lead of three percent. He has an even clearer lead in the swing states that will decide the election.

Trump myth of victim and fighter

"I could shoot someone on 5th Avenue and I wouldn't lose a single supporter," Donald Trump once said with uncanny foresight. He may not have killed anyone, but every attack on him apparently triggers the protective instinct of more than just his supporters. It also underlines his image as a selfless fighter against a deeply unfair and overpowering system and, incidentally, ensures a permanent media presence that no amount of money in the world could buy. His opponents should therefore hope for an early end to Trump's process hanky-panky.

Sources:"New York Times","The Atlantic", DPA AFP,"Washington Examiner", Reaclearpolitics, Pinknews