Commentary

In Donald Trump we have seen a man skillful in communications, although mind you not by the book.  We saw it in the days of “Apprentice,” when he entered the 2016 presidential race, and the rest is history.

It came to light again on Tuesday morning, when I tuned in to the news on Fox Business News, as I frequently do, when I was treated to host Stuart Varney’s “My Take,” his opinion segment on “Varney & Co.”  It was so on-point that I decided to include it here.

Varney, a Brit who became a U.S. citizen in 2015, was analyzing former President Trump’s ability to spin a “difficult situation” to his advantage, noting how he was able to turn remarks about his civil fraud case into a statement about President Biden’s cognitive decline:

“He knows how to make a point, and he knows how to use a situation to his advantage.

“Case in point, his brief statements Monday after he won a lower bond for his fraud trial, and more time to pay.

“Talking about his case, he said, ‘This is all done by the Democrat Party, and it’s all done by Biden and his group.‘

“He’s pointing out that a Democrat attorney general, in a Democrat state, before a Democrat judge, with a Democrat president’s approval, went after the Republican presidential candidate in the middle of an election.

“Can you say political prosecution?

“He went on to say Biden doesn’t know what’s happening.  He’s making the point that Biden is in cognitive decline.

“That’s a very big issue in this election and Trump squeezed it into his courtroom statement.

“Taking advantage of what was supposed to be a difficult situation, he turned it into a sharp-edged attack on Biden’s age.

“The cameras were rolling.  He had the country’s attention.

“With a couple of sentences, he turned the courtroom win into a Biden defeat.

“There are signs it’s working.

“A Politico poll showed if Trump was convicted in Alvin Bragg’s criminal prosecution, four times as many Republicans said it would make them more than likely to support him than less likely.

“Trump has exposed Biden’s use of the courts as weapon in the election.

“Just who is helping democracy?”

In Other Campaign News

A new name (at least to me) surfaced in the coverage of Trump’s legal battle – Mathew Colangelo.  Kerri Kupec Ubahn, a former spokesperson and counselor to former AG William Barr, now a legal news editor for Fox, mentioned him in making the point of how the left is pulling out all stops to get Trump.

Before I could do my research on Colangelo, Trump spoke of Colangelo as a radical left prosecutor out of the DOJ, who has assisted Letitia James and Alvin Bragg, who announced the hiring of Colangelo in December 2022.

A former deputy assistant attorney general under Eric Holder, then Obama’s AG, Colangelo, a militant leftist, was involved in a number of ideologically-driven election law decisions. 

Later, in the Biden administration, he was involved in civil rights.

“A champion of unconventional tactics,” wrote J. Christian Adams, who worked in the DOJ in the George W. Bush era, “Colangelo has a history of using his power to whip ideological foes, no matter the ultimate legal merit.  Expect the worst when it comes to former President Trump.”

Also under my radar, I learned that House Judiciary Committee Chairman Rep. Jim Jordan, citing “unprecedented prosecutorial conduct,” asked Colangelo to provide documents and communications related to his employment by Bragg to investigate Trump and his business, concerned with “politically motivated prosecutions of current and for presidents.”

Other White House Involvement

Documentation of White House visits by Georgia’s Fulton County AG Fani Willis and her prosecutor Nathan Wade, revealed during testimony, brought suspicion of Biden coordination to stop Trump.  Wade billed Willis $2,000 for each of two visits, one in Athens, Georgia with White House counsel.

“Democracy” In Action

Democracy as the Democrats perceive it, that is.  The White House has its tentacles in each of the cases against Trump to keep him off ballots and elected.  “Bidenocracy” is also attempting to stop Robert Kennedy.  Influencing elections is approved in “Bidenocracy.”

It’s Not Working

In Gerard Baker’s Wall Street Journal column, “Trump’s Trials Are a Political Gift to His Campaign,” he wrote, “The multipronged lawfare effort against Mr. Trump seems to be strengthening  Republican determination to back him.”

While Baker muses, “Are Americans who say they plan to vote for the former president doing so in spite or because of the sustained lawfare campaign he faces,” he notes pollster Ann Selzer’s respected Grinnell College survey showing Trump winning 83 percent of registered Republicans.

A Politico/Ipsos poll revealed that if Trump were convicted in Bragg’s trial, almost four times as many Republicans said it would make them more likely to support him than less likely.

Then there’s this …

… from William McGurn, former speechwriter for George W. Bush, writing in the Wall Street Journal:

“Biden’s staff I’m sure will pitch stories about how it’s all about getting in Trump’s head.  But we’ve learned ironclad lessons over the last decade with Trump. 

“One of the biggest is you can’t out Trump Trump.  He will go further and farther and you’ll look ridiculous.”

With 222 days until Election Day, may God continue to bless the United States of America.