After the ‘prosecution of sexual scandal’, support and donations are concentrated… Raised $4 million on prosecution day
Another ‘judicial risk’ such as parliamentary riots still exists… Doubts about expansion
thumbs up Former President Donald Trump gives thumbs up to supporters in a car leaving the Trump International Golf Club in Florida, USA, on the 1st (local time). AP Yonhap News
Former President Donald Trump, who was the first incumbent and former U.S. president to be prosecuted for a criminal offense, has been leading the party’s approval ratings and sponsorship box office after his indictment. The prosecution is having the effect of rallying supporters.
On the 1st (local time), some supporters gathered near former President Trump’s Mar-a-Lago mansion in Palm Beach, Florida, USA, waving flags and American flags with “Trump Nation” and “Keep America Great,” the Associated Press reported. .
One supporter, a hot dog vendor, “felt he had to do something” and drove five hours to hand out “Trump hot dogs” to people near Mar-a-Lago, the BBC reported. Another supporter said, “Trump will be our president again and we will see more people coming out to support him.”
According to The Hill, a media outlet specializing in the US Congress, in a poll conducted by Yahoo-YouGov on the 30th and 31st of last month of 1089 US adults who support the Republican Party, former President Trump’s approval rating recorded 52%, ranking first. In a one-on-one match with Florida Governor Ron DeSantis (pictured), he also showed an advantage with 57% to 31%. This is a dramatic rise considering that it was 4 percentage points behind Governor Disantis in the February survey.
Previously, former President Trump was indicted on the 30th of last month on charges of giving 130,000 dollars (about 170 million won) to a former porn star just before the 2016 presidential election in exchange for keeping her from having sex outside of marriage. Former President Trump swept about $4 million (about 5.24 billion won) in donations on the day he was indicted. Immediately after the indictment, Trump’s presidential campaign said, “This witch hunt will create a huge headwind. Because of your support, 2024 will forever be recorded as the year that saved the Republican Party,” he encouraged his fundraising. T-shirts with the phrase “I support Trump”, worth 47 dollars (about 60,000 won) each, are also selling like hot cakes.
However, there is an analysis that this indictment could lead to the departure of the middle class of the Republican Party even if it does not shake former President Trump’s existing supporters. Under the U.S. Constitution, there is no problem in running for president even if a criminal record remains after being tried or even convicted, but it is inevitable that a legal battle will follow in the future.
There are also observations that it is only the beginning of the ‘judicial risk’ that will continue in the future. Former President Trump is already under investigation by a special prosecutor on charges of taking confidential information from the White House without permission and inciting the 2021 1/6 congressional riots. There is also a suspicion that during the 2020 presidential election, he called the Secretary of State of Georgia and forced him to overturn the results of the presidential election.
In the case of former President Trump, it is difficult to find a Supreme Court precedent to refer to. The New York Times said, “If the case against former President Trump is in progress, or if he is elected president after being convicted, the aftereffects will be great. Even if his second term begins, he may be removed from office immediately under the 25th Amendment on the grounds that ‘he is unable to discharge the powers and duties of a public servant’.”
