Profs. Victor Menaldo and James D. Long wrote a column for The Conversation pondering if former President Trump could use his possible re-election as payback and retribution for indictments.
Donald Trump has declared, “I am your retribution,” and it appears to be a guiding theme of his 2024 campaign...If elected, he promises to punish his perceived enemies – everyone from prosecutors at the Justice Department and in New York and Georgia to the Biden family and Republicans in Congress who don’t help him.
While appeals to grievance have been used in presidential campaigns, never before in American history has a leading contender for a major party’s nomination made their personal grievances related to criminal liability and payback the centerpiece of their presidential run.
Trump is innocent until proved guilty. His hard-core “Make America Great Again” supporters tell pollsters they believe in his complete innocence...But if the facts of the cases and evidence presented at trial appear to moderates and independents as nothing burgers, or if swing voters otherwise feel the judicial process has unfairly targeted Trump with prosecutorial overreach, that could conceivably turn Trump’s persistent unfavorable ratings into electoral victory.
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