Trump was charged with violating the Georgia Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act and multiple solicitation and conspiracy charges, among others, for his efforts to change the results of the last presidential election in the Peach State.
Allies of the former president, including Rudy Giuliani and former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows, were also handed indictments. Our Zach Schonfeld and Ella Lee have a breakdown of the charges here, while our Rebecca Beitsch has a recap of the indictment from late last night here.
But despite the mounting legal challenges that are threatening to bedevil Trump’s reelection campaign, Republicans largely say they don’t think it’s moving the needle among primary voters right now, especially Trump’s base of supporters as our Caroline Vakil reports this morning.
The Teflon candidate?: “I would say the number of indictments nor does the content of the indictment have any impact on Trump’s polling numbers,” Arizona-based GOP strategist and Trump campaign alum Brian Seitchik told Caroline.
“The only issue that could shake Trump voters away is a piercing of his Teflon armor,” he continued. “If he loses in either Iowa or New Hampshire, I suspect the national numbers would change rapidly.”
The former president is also facing indictments from three other probes relating to a hush money payment, his alleged mishandling of classified documents and the aftermath of the 2020 election and Jan. 6, 2021 Capitol attack.
GOP voters shrug off legal woes: Yet local and national surveys still find Trump leading the rest of the 2024 GOP primary — underscoring the fact that toppling the former president may require more than being hit with multiple indictments.
A New York Times/Siena College poll released last month found that roughly seven in ten likely GOP primary voters did not believe the former president committed a serious crime, while 17 percent said they did.
But some polling suggests that his support could be eroding. An NPR/PBS NewsHour/Marist National poll out last month showed 41 percent of GOP respondents saying the former president did nothing wrong, down from 50 percent of those who said the same in June.
“I don’t think there’s going to be much movement off of that indictment,” GOP strategist Keith Naughton, referring to the potential Georgia charges, told Caroline. “I think that as the months go on, you’re probably going to see some erosion of Trump’s support. It’s really hard to say how much.”
