Photo: Alamy | Op-ed by John Hanna
The latest indictment of President Donald Trump has gained a mixture of reactions from both sides of the aisle. However, most reactions can be categorized down party lines.
Democrats are cheering, thinking that justice has been served, conspicuously turning a blind eye to Joe Biden committing a similar act while he was vice president.
Meanwhile, GOP members are slamming the indictment, considering Trump’s indictment a type of political profiling. Many more politicians are thinking about the impact this will have on 2024.
However, Americans appear more ambivalent than some of their representatives, wondering about the true nature of why Trump is being indicted now.
According to a Fox News poll, 47 percent of Americans consider the charges brought against Trump as politically motivated, leading some Americans to believe Trump should halt his 2024 campaign. The vast majority of Republicans believe the charges should not be taken seriously, according to the poll.
Trump has maintained his innocence in the face of the indictment of 37 counts of federal crimes brought by special counsel Jack Smith.
According to one tweet, Trump claims he is “an innocent man…this [indictment] is election interference and a continuation of the greatest witch hunt of all time.”
It does seem odd that the indictment and official charges have been brought against Trump now as Americans look forward to the 2024 election primaries. Interestingly, it appears an indictment has only strengthened Trump’s resolve to win the GOP primary and face a rematch with Joe Biden.
It is worth noting that Trump’s attorney, Alina Habba, has advised the president not to take a plea deal on the case of the classified documents found at Mar-a-Lago.
Habba maintained that Trump has not done anything wrong, according to an interview earlier this month.
