- Donald Trump and his allies have claimed that an indictment will solely assist his election prospects.
- Chris Christie, a former district lawyer, stated Trump thrives on “chaos and turmoil.”
- However an indictment “by no means helps anyone,” Christie stated on ABC’s “This Week.”
Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie stated on Sunday that an indictment will not assist Donald Trump, countering the previous president’s claims that it will solely make him extra widespread.
Whereas discussing Trump’s potential indictment for hush-money funds to grownup actress Stormy Daniels, Christie stated on ABC’s “This Week” that Trump thrives on battle however solely when he is behind the narrative reins.
“The circus continues. I imply, look, he solely earnings and does effectively in chaos and turmoil. And so he needs to create the chaos and turmoil on his phrases,” Christie stated. “He does not need anyone else’s phrases … He needs it on his phrases.”
Nonetheless, Christie, who can also be a former district lawyer, added: “However take a look at the top, being indicted by no means helps anyone. It isn’t a assist.”
—This Week (@ThisWeekABC) March 19, 2023
A couple of weeks earlier than the potential for an indictment additional materialized, Trump stated he “would not even take into consideration” dropping out of the 2024 race even when he was charged with a criminal offense.
“In all probability it’ll improve my numbers,” he stated, per an ABC Information report.
A few of his closest allies echoed that sentiment.
“If the Manhattan DA indicts President Trump, he’ll in the end win even greater than he’s already going to win,” Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene wrote on Twitter on Saturday.
Twitter CEO Elon Musk additionally claimed Trump can be “re-elected in a landslide victory.”
If Manhattan prosecutors ship an indictment, Trump could be the primary former president in US historical past to be formally charged with a criminal offense — not to mention a former president who can also be working a 3rd election marketing campaign.
The closest a former president got here to being charged with a criminal offense was Nixon earlier than he was granted a pardon by Gerald Ford in September 1974. The final time a presidential candidate was indicted was in 2011, when John Edwards, John Kerry’s 2004 vice presidential working mate, was charged with marketing campaign finance violations.
“I do not assume that the American individuals will most likely see this as an enormous crime,” Christie stated. “However the imaginative and prescient of a former president of the US being processed, fingerprinted, mug shotted … What else do you anticipate Trump to say … than to say that it helps his marketing campaign?”
