DEJA BLUE: Trump’s advisors are begging him not to ruin GOP chances in Georgia again
Advisors to Donald Trump are urging him to put off the expected announcement that he’s running for president, in light of Georgia’s Senate race going to a runoff. They believe an official candidacy would detract from Herschel Walker’s chance of a win — but Trump is rarely deterred from acting in his own interest.
The presidency shielded Trump from virtually any lawsuit or investigation that didn’t rise to the level of impeachment. Now that he’s a mere private citizen again, he’s facing a case in New York that alleges financial fraud, an investigation in Georgia for election interference, an investigation for removing documents from the White House, and a defamation case from E. Jean Carroll, who alleges he sexually assaulted her in a department store, just to name a few.
Candidacy wouldn’t be as effective a shield as the presidency was, but Trump may hold out hope that any legal actions taken against him during an active campaign could be more effectively spun as political attacks, and that prosecutors may be more cautious about acting under those circumstances. There were even rumors he wasn’t going to hold out until after election day.
Now, he’s set a date to make a big announcement, but election day didn’t go as Republicans planned, and like in 2020, Georgia could be a deciding factor in the balance of the U.S. Senate. That runoff race won’t be settled until December, and one of Trump’s advisors, Jason Miller, says he’s making every effort to delay the announcement until that race is settled.
Miller told Newsmax:
“So, no formal decision yet. Of course, President Trump said he would make an announcement on November 15th, next Tuesday. I’m advising the president to hold off until after the Georgia race. After Herschel Walker. Priorities A, B, and C need to be about Herschel right now. This is bigger than anything else in the country. We’ve gotta show the focus is on Georgia.”
In 2020, Trump’s unwillingness to drop his unsupported claims of election fraud and focus on supporting Georgia candidates in the January 2021 special election earned him the blame from some Republican leaders when both of those elections went to Democratic candidates, ceding control of the Senate. If Trump’s announcement detracts from Walker’s race or further motivates Democrats to get out and vote for Raphael Warnock, it could be a déjà vu moment, in which Trump again helps Dems take the Senate.
Jason Miller on Newsmax about Trump's planned November 15 presidential announcement: "I am advising the president to hold off until after the Georgia race." pic.twitter.com/SuNEqCqO4X
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) November 9, 2022
Steph Bazzle covers politics and theocracy, always aiming for a world free from extremism and authoritarianism. Follow Steph on Twitter @imjustasteph.
