By Hank Bartholomew
Trump’s Legal Battles
Former President Donald Trump, as well as eighteen of his allies, were indicted in Georgia on August 14, 2023, as a result of their efforts to overturn the 2020 election in Georgia. The crucial swing state was the site of a fierce battleground during the election, and while the state, and its electoral college votes, were eventually awarded to Joe Biden, the Trump administration made many attempts to find votes in Georgia, perhaps not legally. Charges include Violation of the Georgia Racketeering Act and Corrupt Services Act, three counts of solicitation of violation of oath by a public officer, conspiracy to commit impersonation of a public officer, two counts of conspiracy to commit forgery in the first degree, two counts of conspiracy to commit false statements and writings, one charge of conspiracy to file false documents, and two counts of false statements and writings. Among the Trump allies charged include his lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, Mark Meadows, his former White House chief of staff, and even one Stephan Lee, a pastor in suburban Chicago, who has been tied to voter intimidation. The indictment accuses Trump of being the head of a “criminal enterprise” devoted to overturning the election. Trump turned himself in to authorities, and became the first American president to have their mugshot taken, on August 24 of this year. As far as a defense is concerned, Trump’s team has labeled the indictment a “weaponization of the Justice Department” by the Biden administration.
Perhaps the most intriguing aspect of the case is that even if the forty-fifth U.S. President is convicted, his ability to be president again still remains. If Trump is convicted on every single charge he is facing, not just including those in Georgia, he could receive a sentence of 717.5 years, although this is incredibly unlikely, as many of these charges are punishable by a fine or do not carry a mandatory prison sentence. Still, if Trump does spend some time behind bars, he can still run for president. The Constitution has no rules against a former felon or current felon running for (or becoming) president. If this scenario comes to fruition, it is even possible Trump could run America from behind bars. Nonetheless, Trump is still the heavy favorite for the GOP nomination.
Trump, with his annotated Georgia indictment behind him. Image: CNN
Desantis’s Chances of Dethroning Trump
If there is a conservative candidate who can beat Trump, it is Ron DeSantis, Governor of Florida. He gained popularity and attention for harsh stances against Critical Race Theory, as well as his support for the banning of many books relating to gender, sexual identity, and race (Florida has the second most banned books in the nation, following Texas). In addition, DeSantis is only forty-five years old, thirty-two years Trump’s junior. But his campaign got off to an incredibly rocky start.
His announcement to throw his hat into the ring was held over a live session of Twitter (now renamed “X”) with the social media platform’s owner, eccentric billionaire Elon Musk. It was an odd move for DeSantis, who has no known ties to Musk, but the announcement was a disaster, regardless. The internet traffic for the announcement was too great for Twitter to handle, and the website crashed. When the site was finally up and running again, viewers’ microphones couldn’t be disabled, leading to general chaos. When this issue was finally resolved, DeSantis gave his announcement and held a conversation with Musk, which featured a surprisingly large amount of time spent discussing the billionaire’ inventions and companies. The DeSantis campaign has called the uncoordinated affair a display of strength, claiming that the site crashing was a result of the overwhelming support DeSantis has. But Trump, unsurprisingly, was quick to fire back, re-posting a video on his social media platform, Truth Social. The deep fake video, parodying the announcement, features DeSantis and Musk in a bizarre conversation that includes Dick Chenney, Hitler, and the Devil. At the end of the video, Trump is made to join the call, proclaiming, “Trump 2024”.
A rather average debate performance leaves DeSantis still in the second spot behind Trump, but polls indicate that the Florida Governor is around forty-six points behind the former president.
Trump’s bizarre response to DeSantis’s presidential announcement. Image: Daily Mail
Highlights of the First GOP Presidential Debate
There was no shortage of headlines leading up to this year’s first presidential debate. Fiery exchanges, flaring tempers, and moderators struggling to control eight presidential hopefuls were all present. One can expect more of the same as the Republican primary heats up, but there are some important takeaways.
Vivek Ramaswamy undoubtedly had the highest profile night out of any of his competition. Considered a distant third behind Donald Trump and Ron DeSantis, the thirty-eight year old businessman made quite a splash, sparring with practically every other candidate onstage, even going as far as to insist that he was the only individual on the stage “not bought and paid for.” Ramaswamy has set himself up as a devoted Trumpian, calling the 2016 GOP nominee “the best president of the 21st century”. Indeed, the man even sounded like Trump, abrasive, charismatic, and repeatedly interrupting opponents. Ramaswamy, already armed with Trump’s praise prior to the debate, insisted on multiple occasions that he was the only candidate providing true answers to the questions he was asked, and not just pre-canned species. But while Ramaswamy may have come across well among the MAGA faithful, he will have few friends on stage the next time this group meets. Even during this debate, Ramaswamy led the candidates onstage for times attacked, with six. Nikki Haley, the former Governor of South Carolina, after grilling Ramaswamy over his policies regarding Ukraine and Israel, declared, “You have no foreign policy experience, and it shows.” Haley most definitely has a point, and was most likely the most qualified candidate to make such a statement, having served as an ambassador to the United Nations. Yet if experience is the problem, Haley may have to reconsider her stance on Trump, who was nothing more than a businessman when he became the 45th American President. For Ramaswamy, his stock has undoubtedly risen, and he is becoming a well-known name. But he will have to prepare for attacks from other candidates.
Haley herself had a rather good night. Despite only having the fifth most speaking time, with eight minutes and forty-one seconds, per the New York Times, Haley was able to make her presence felt, and portrayed herself as level-headed and reasonable. In one particular exchange with former Vice President Mike Pence, who had promised a nation-wide fifteen-week abortion ban if elected, Haley declared that this was unrealistic, arguing that there simply were not enough votes in the senate to achieve such a measure. Haley attempted to portray herself as the best option for the Republican party while Trump was occupied with legal matters. But by all indications, few conservatives are willing to give up on Trump, regardless of his legal state.
In a GOP party that is essentially Donald Trump and nothing else, only two candidates stood strong against the former president, who didn’t even bother to attend the debate, considering how much of a lead he has in the polls. Asa Hutchinson, the former Governor of Arkansas, and Chris Christie, the former Governor of New Jersey, were the only candidates to say they would not support Trump as the Republican candidate for the presidency if he were found guilty in the legal cases he is currently battling. The former president will be armed with one of the best legal teams in the country, including Steven H. Sadow, an Atlanta-based attorney who has handled a series of high profile cases, including an Atlanta rapper who, like Trump, was hit with a R.I.C.O. charge. Even if Trump is convicted, he would still legally be allowed to run for president. DeSantis, Pence, Haley, Tim Scott, and Doug Bergman all agreed that they would support Trump, with DeSantis arguing that the charges were a “weaponization” of a liberal justice department, although there is no evidence of this. Christie, when asked to explain his position on the issue, calmly answered that no one was above the law, and Trump put himself before the Constitution with his efforts to remain in power. A hostile crowd immediately erupted into boos, which were only silenced after two Fox News moderators instructed the crowd to allow Christie to speak his piece. Hutchinson delivered a similar statement, and he too was greeted with boos. Trump and the modern conservative party seem inseparable, and one has to wonder what role those who are willing to oppose Trump will find themselves in within it.
There is still a long way to go until primary elections, but for now, the story remains that Trump is far ahead of any competition. Ramaswamy and Haley are on the rise, but still have a long way to go, DeSantis is treading water, and all (in particular Christie and Hutchinson) must hope that Trump’s grip on the Conservative party is weaker than it seems.
