Welcome to America’s day of shame
America awoke on Tuesday to a day of ignominy as images of its former head of state being hauled before a court looked set to leave an indelible stain on the nation.
There was outrage from Republicans of all stripes but, perhaps more notably, a deafening silence from Democrat leaders who have pursued Donald Trump and accused him of wrongdoing for years.
As the backlash against his indictment grew, even many opponents of Mr Trump felt charging him may have been a step too far for America.
“I do think that this is a watershed moment,” said Bill Barr, Mr Trump’s former Attorney General who split with him in 2021.
“And I don’t think it’s going to end up good for the country.”
Meanwhile, poll after poll demonstrated growing support for Mr Trump. A new one on Monday night showed he had widened his lead over his rivals in the 2024 Republican presidential nominating contest.
According to the Reuters/Ipsos poll, 48 per cent of Republicans said they want Mr Trump to be their party’s nominee. That was up from 44 in a similar poll taken shortly before he was indicted.
Only 19 per cent backed his closest rival, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, which was down from 30 per cent in the previous poll. No other candidate scored in double digits.
The poll also showed that a narrow majority of Americans, including 80 per cent of Republicans, believe the charges against Mr Trump are politically motivated.
After being ejected from Twitter and Facebook in the wake of the US Capitol riot two years ago, Mr Trump is also once again dominating news coverage.
As Mr Trump was heading to New York on Monday, his every move followed by TV cameras, Americans may have been unaware that Joe Biden was in Minnesota speaking about infrastructure and manufacturing jobs.
While Mr Biden toured a factory TV screens showed Mr Trump’s plane in the air.
For days Mr Biden has been unable to take questions without repeatedly being asked about Mr Trump and his legal case.
So far, the current president has consistently declined to comment. Democrat strategist Lis Smith said the White House had been “smart” to stay silent.
She said: “In 2020 Joe Biden benefited from voters’ exhaustion with the chaos of the Trump administration.
“The split screen of President Biden focused on doing his job well versus Trump and the Republican Party in chaos will only help him.”
But the problem for Mr Biden, as he prepares to launch his re-election campaign, is becoming that he may not get on the screen at all.
A White House official said: “Whatever else is happening you just have to keep talking about what it is that you want to talk about.”
The same problem was faced by Asa Hutchinson, the Republican former governor of Arkansas, who chose to launch his 2024 presidential campaign as Mr Trump prepared to appear in court.
Mr Hutchinson called on Mr Trump to drop out of the race, arguing that “the office is more important than any individual person.”
He said: “We need a leader in our country that can bring out the best of America, and not appeal to our worst instincts.”
However, as everyone was watching Mr Trump’s plane landing in New York, it was unclear how many Republican primary voters heard Mr Hutchinson, or any of the other anti-Trump Republican voices.
It was notable that even Mr Hutchinson, a former government prosecutor, said he would not have prosecuted Mr Trump over the Stormy Daniels case.
“This is not good for the United States of America,” he said.
