An indictment could increase former President Donald Trump’s chances of winning the Republican nomination in 2024.
At least that’s the view of Trump supporters who spoke to NBC News at a rally Monday in Davenport, Iowa, which is holding the first nominating contest on the schedule.
“I think it helps him,” Allen Hockemeyer, a 78-year-old farmer from Waterloo, Iowa, said of the criminal investigations into Trump in Manhattan, Atlanta and Washington, D.C. “They are all frauds.”
In a post on his Truth social media platform on Saturday, Trump predicted he would be indicted Tuesday in a New York case involving alleged hush money payments to porn star Stormy Daniels. A Trump spokesman told NBC News the former president has not been notified of a possible pending indictment, but based his comments on «illegal leaks» by prosecutors.
Whatever effect an indictment or conviction may have on Trump’s hopes of winning a 2024 general election, his first priority is rallying Republicans to capture the nomination. he holds an advantage in most national pollswith Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis not announcing a bid, having distinguished himself as the strongest challenger in the early stages of the race.
“It just energizes the base even more. This absolutely helps President Trump go to the primary,” a Washington-based Republican operative said in a phone call Saturday afternoon. «I’m not so sure what he does in general.»
The operative pointed out that there is a faction of the Republican Party that believes that Trump would already have trouble beating a Democrat and is looking for an alternative.
“That is what the party is struggling with right now,” he said.
Some leading Republicans rushed to Trump’s defense on Saturday, an indication that they do not fear a political backlash for siding with him.
House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., called the potential indictment an «outrageous abuse of power» by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, vowing to use congressional committees to investigate whether » federal funds are being used to subvert our democracy by interfering in elections.» with politically motivated prosecutions.”
Rep. Marjorie Taylor-Greene, a Republican from Georgia, a close ally of Trump, wrote on Twitter that Democrats are «idiotsthat they are «sealing their own fate» with the «political weaponry» of the legal system against Trump.
The top prosecutors in Manhattan and Fulton County, Georgia, are Democrats. At the federal level, special counsel Jack Smith, who is investigating the January 6 insurrection and Trump’s handling of classified documents, was appointed by Attorney General Merrick Garland, who works in a Democratic administration.
An indication that Trump sees a political advantage in the prospect of impeachment: He sent out fundraising requests Saturday, via text and email, after his posts on Truth Social.
Traci Walters, a 52-year-old accountant from Cedar Rapids, Iowa, suggested Monday that Trump is uniquely suited to thrive politically in the face of legal challenges.
«FAKE!» he snapped before a question about the investigations could be completed, adding that he is «not concerned at all» that he could be affected by court cases.
«It’s been under the microscope for how many, how many, 6, 7, 8 years now, they’re not finding anything,» Walters said, describing herself as «100 percent» pro-Trump in the Republican primary. «I mean, come on, who could survive that, right?»
Ernie Morgan, 52, of Muscatine, Iowa, expressed a similar sentiment about the spectrum of charges against Trump.
“I don’t give that much credence because it’s unproven, it’s unsubstantiated at this point,” he said, sitting with his wife and two children in the back of the Adler Theater in Davenport ahead of Trump’s speech Monday.
«There have been so many cases in the past where charges were attempted and they never seem to materialize,» Morgan said. «So, I think with his proven track record of him, he would be my man in ’24.»