Donald Trump goes to court Monday as the first US ex-president ever to be criminally prosecuted, a seismic moment as the presumptive Republican nominee campaigns to re-take the White House.
Donald Trump has proven to be a master of turning legal lemons into political lemonade – and he’s on track to do the same thing when he finally goes on trial this week in the Manhattan case stemming from hush money payments made to porn star Stormy Daniels and others.
He is certain to use the trial as a platform to promote his now-familiar claims that he is the real victim of “deep state” Democrats and biased prosecutors, political pundits say.
“He will try to turn the trial from prosecution to persecution, as we’ve seen in the past,” said Basil Smikle, a Hunter College professor and Democratic strategist. “In his view, it could convince his supporters that he’s being treated unfairly.”
Republican strategists say it’s no secret how Trump plans to deal with the potential political pitfalls of the trial.
“He’ll trash the judicial system as he’s been doing for years, all while declaring a victim and martyr,” said Doug Heye, a Republican strategist.
For most politicians, facing felony charges in a courtroom – let alone sordid allegations of extramarital sex, lies and an election-altering cover up – would be the kiss of death.
And Trump surely fears the unpredictable revelations that could emerge in court and the potential fallout from sitting at the defence table for weeks. Otherwise, he would not have spent months lobbing legal Hail Marys in so-far-unsuccessful efforts to derail the trial.
But pundits say Trump could succeed at least in galvanising Republican voters, who have already picked him as their presumptive nominee to take on President Joe Biden in November.
Scott Jennings, a former top aide to Republican Senator Mitch McConnell, said the hush money case is particularly well suited for Trump to use as a tool to forging an even stronger bond with his supporters.
That’s because it is taking place in Manhattan, where few MAGA loyalists believe Trump can get a fair shake, and it involves what he calls “a left-wing fever swamp dream” of wild allegations.
“They view all of this, especially the New York cases, as sham political attacks masquerading as legitimate legal action,” Jennings said. “It will spike anger and engagement among the base.”
One thing seems certain: on Monday morning, Trump will enter the history books when he walks into a lower Manhattan courtroom and becomes the first former US president to go on criminal trial.
