As the news cycle shifts a week following former President Donald Trump’s arraignment in Manhattan’s criminal court on 34 felony charges, Trump and his allies are doing everything they can to keep his historic indictment front and center.
On Tuesday (April 11), Trump sat down for an interview with the host of the “Tucker Carlson Show” on Fox News to discuss the allegations and has repeatedly posted on Truth Social attacking Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg.
For their part in keeping Trump’s name in the spotlight, the former President’s allies in the House are engaged in a battle with Bragg to get him to testify as they try to frame the allegations as politically motivated.
And Trump’s campaign raised funds for last week’s high-profile court appearance.
In short, the strategy reflects how Trump and his team believe the allegations will benefit him politically in the short term.
And to an extent, the case has.
Trump dominated broadcasts early last week when his trip to New York and subsequent surrender to authorities in Manhattan eclipsed all other political stories.
And Trump’s allies believe that was to his advantage, with even some of his usual critics and 2024 rivals attacking the prosecutor, while others questioned why a case stemming from hush money payment allegations was the legal battle Trump was facing criminal charges on when other accusations are far more severe.
Strategists believe that if Trump can control the news cycle, it will stifle his rivals’ potential momentum for the 2024 GOP nomination.
Alex Conant, who worked on Republican Senator Marco Rubio’s 2016 Presidential campaign, noted the strategy was similar to what Trump did in 2016, noting, “The cable networks would show an empty podium where Trump” was scheduled to speak, instead of showing his rivals giving real speeches at the same time.
Conant described it as “incredibly frustrating for [Trump’s] competition,” noting rising in the polls was impossible “without media attention.”
