Commentary

“For any other politician, a mugshot would be the end.  For Trump, it’s a springboard.” -Stephen Collinson, CNN

The radical left, and to some extent some on the right and independents, are just beginning to find what it means when they are cautioned – be careful what you wish for.  They wanted former President Trump humiliated, preferably in handcuffs, but had to settle for a mugshot.

Now, with court dates being set when Trump should be campaigning, they see him required to be in court on March 4, the day before Super Tuesday, and they are soaking it all in with delight.

“The March 4 choice means that at least some Republican voters from early and Super Tuesday states will probably see their ballots as a chance to protest what they view as unfair treatment of Mr. Trump,” according to the editorial board of the Wall Street Journal. “Voting for him will be their way of giving the establishment the middle finger.”

Remember the concern of Trump supporters seeing the opposition using his mugshot on anti-Trump merchandise?  Trump beat them to it with T-shirts emblazoned with the mugshot in color with choice wording- “The Don,” “Never Surrender,” and “Not Guilty.”

Since the release of the mugshot, the Trump campaign revealed $7.1 million in contributions.  The highest grossing day of the campaign came on Friday when $4.18 million came in.

Meanwhile, candidate Nikki Haley reported receiving $1 million within three days of the debate.  She is taking Trump on.

In Timothy P. Carney’s opinion piece in the Washington Examiner, “If you’re waiting for Trump to disappear, be ready to wait past 2028,” he writes about the strategic reasons for a Republican to avoid battle with Trump. “Trump is a ruthless counterpuncher.”  People like the fighter in him.

Another factor in the backlash not anticipated was how blacks in Fulton County, many rallying outside the jail, viewed the whole show.  “As the motorcade wound its way to the Fulton County Jail, it instantly catapulted Trump to legend status in the eyes of the black men,” wrote Elizabeth Stauffer in the Washington Examiner, viewing the mugshot as a symbol of “the man” sticking it to the establishment.

“Trump has weaponized every aspect of his legal struggle to supercharge the cult of victimization and vengeance that drives his political appeal,” noted CNN’s Stephen Collinson

In case you missed it, over on MSNBC, Rachel Maddow and Nichole Wallace were yukking it up, unable to contain themselves.

The Right Responds

Thanks to Sean Hannity’s drumbeat on Fox, video clips of those on the radical left highlight their hypocrisy over the issue to electoral vote count objections.  How many of you recall how then Vice President Biden on January 6, 2017, was interrupted by Democrat House members 11 times?

Maryland’s Jamie Raskin, a Trump-hater, rose to object Florida’s 29 votes, Washington’s Pramila Jayapal objected to Georgia’s vote certificate, California’s Barbara Lee objected to the counting of Michigan’s votes, and Shiela Jackson Lee of Texas objected to the New York vote, to name some.

Do you suppose Trump’s attorneys will be permitted to show this video in court?

The Percentage Game

A recent CBS poll found that 72 percent of likely Republican voters are considering a vote for Trump, while keeping their options open.  Ninety-nine percent of those said it because things were better during his presidency than they are now.  And 95 percent cited that “he fights for people like me.”

“If Trump gets the GOP nomination, there is at least a 50 percent chance that he loses the general election,” reports Carney, “I would place the odds higher.”

“Unable to resist another opportunity to humiliate Trump, the Democrats may have just triggered a chain reaction they are powerless to stop.  And it will hurt them.”  – Elizabeth Stauffer, Washington Examiner

May God continue to bless the United States of America.