Trump had announced a plan to release info on alleged election interference.

  • NevermindNoMind@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    12
    arrow-down
    1
    ·
    1 year ago

    He’s doing this because of the Republican Debate which is like two days later. “Governor DeSantis, former president Trump gave a press conference laying out what he claimed was conclusive evidence that the Georgia election was stolen. Have you reviewed that evidence and do accept that the Georgia election was rigged and Trump in fact won in that state?”

    A (arguably wide, depending on the poll) majority of Republican voters believe Trump won in 2020 and the election was stolen. Republican candidates have been trying to walk a very fine line of not pissing off the Republican base they need to win the primary by saying Trump is wrong, but also not committing to the stolen election theory which they know is toxic in a general election. So when asked if Biden won they say things like “Biden is the current president.” What happens at debates is the moderators tend to focus in on the news of the day. Trump’s indictment is news of the day, but all the Republican candidates are very practiced at ignoring the substance of the charges and instead answering with generic “Biden is weaponizing the Justice Department” bullshit nonanswers. What Trump is doing is making the election fraud claims the “news of the day,” forcing candidates to specifically deal with the claims of rigging, and any attempt to deflect to complaining about the Justice System will be a dodge so obvious even mouth breathing Republican primary voters will recognize it. In short, Trump is fucking with the other candidates.

    And legally, it’s not a bad play. He’s already fucked on the facts and law, I think he’s correct that his best chance of avoiding jail time is winning the presidency. Even with a Georgia conviction, I wouldn’t put it past SCOTUS to say a sitting President can’t serve jail time for state crimes, or some other wacky shit. All in all, doing this bullshit press conference may actually be a “smart” move from his perspective.