No, The Hush Money Trial Isn't Helping Donald Trump

[babylonsister]

https://www.offmessage.net/p/hush-money-trial-isnt-helping-trump?publication_id=1172514&post_id=144832641&isFreemail=false&r=2fku&triedRedirect=true

No, The Hush Money Trial Isn’t Helping Donald Trump
But it is hurting the credibility of people who want it to be helping him
Brian Beutler
May 21, 2024


If you spend any time in right-wing media, you’ll learn all about how Donald Trump’s New York hush-money trial is a fiasco for the Manhattan district attorney’s office—that the case is obviously meritless, and (since the prosecutor’s motivation must have been political) destined to backfire politically.

Whether Trump is convicted or not, this is the normal way right-wing media lies to its audience, no difference from past efforts such as “the polls are fake, Donald Trump is winning the 2020 election.” Most ethical journalists who’ve covered the trial from the outset and understand the laws at issue wouldn’t venture to predict the verdict. But they would tell you that the prosecutors have ably painted a damning portrait of Trump—they’ve proven he falsified business records (a misdemeanor) and assembled strong evidence that he did so in an effort to cover up other illegal activity (making it a felony).

As to the political question of whether the trial is making Trump more popular with the voting public, or engendering its sympathy, nobody has to predict anything: Before the trial, Trump was more popular (or less unpopular) than he had been in a long time; through the trial, those numbers have slowly deteriorated.

snip//

His head-to-head polling against Biden has also not improved. Depending on which model you consult, it’s flat or slipped a little.

more...

https://www.offmessage.net/p/hush-money-trial-isnt-helping-trump?publication_id=1172514&post_id=144832641&isFreemail=false&r=2fku&triedRedirect=true

[spanone]

1. K&R

[LiberalFighter]

2. And it will get worse

In 55 days the Republican National Convention will convene. Will they strip the nomination from him?

[SomedayKindaLove]

3. Naw they'll probably double down

The gutless wonders of the R party will go down with the ship. Hopefully the crazy ones are too disillusioned to realize the ship is sinking. Otherwise they’d be even more dangerous.

[Traurigkeit]

4. There are no Republicans in The Republican Party since 2017

[FBaggins]

6. How would "they" do that?

He already has the delegates necessary and he effectively controls the people who would be able to change the rules.

They can't remove him without him being the one who wants to get out... and I don't see that happening.

[rlegro]

5. Yup. However....

I am in the group suggesting that this is not (and should not be portrayed) as a hush-money trial. Yes, Trump evidently paid hush money. However, that's not necessarily illegal, even if it is tawdry. Rather, this is a trial about his attempt to finagle his financial records to hide the payments from public view. I think the case for the latter is quite damning, and I think people have figured out that he's unreliable with keeping the books. Both as a private citizen and businessman, and as a president managing federal funds.