NEW YORK: Meetings with foreign dignitaries at Trump Tower. A staged visit to a convenience store in the New York City Democratic stronghold of Harlem. Daily remarks broadcast on national cable television from outside the courtroom, and a blizzard of angry posts on his Truth Social platform.
In the midst of his New York hush money trial, Republican former president Donald Trump is testing the boundaries of the saying that there is no such thing as bad publicity. Even if you are running for the highest office in the land.
Making his third White House run, Trump is using the elevated media attention to amplify his claims of judicial persecution while simultaneously trying to appear presidential by meeting leaders or envoys from US allies, who have proven willing to call on him despite his facing dozens of charges in four separate criminal cases.
Media are barred from televising Trump’s trial and he is a mute observer in the proceedings. Before the trial started on Apr 15, debate centered on how Trump would balance his candidacy with his dual role as a criminal defendant trapped in court out of public view for most of four days a week.
His movements curtailed, Trump and his campaign have capitalised on the “audience of millions” afforded by cameras that follow his every move, said Republican consultant Jeanette Hoffman, including his staged visits to the convenience store, or bodega, in Harlem and with union workers at a construction site in Midtown Manhattan.
“No campaign would want to have their candidate in the courtroom instead of with voters on the campaign trail,” Hoffman said. “But I also think they’re smart to maximize their moments of support in front of the camera during the trial.”
Still, Trump has not had a campaign rally since the trial started, although two are planned for next week in the battleground states of Michigan and Wisconsin. An incoming storm forced him to abruptly postpone a North Carolina rally on Apr 20. On his one day off from the trial this week he played golf.
Opinion polls suggest that however Trump tries to make the best of a bad situation, the trial carries political risks. They show some Republican voters could turn against him if he becomes a convicted felon, costing him crucial support in a close Nov 5 election rematch with Democratic incumbent Joe Biden.
