As America inches towards the 2024 election, the former 45th President Donald Trump has locked up the Republican presidential nomination. In most polls aggregated in an average by real clear politics, the American business mogul from New York City is in a dead heat with the incumbent President Joe Biden. Critics allege that Trump remains vulnerable, as four criminal indictments have been levied against him for actions taken before, during, and after his time as president. In 2023, the former president took a “mug shot” after turning himself in to law enforcement officials in the state of Georgia following his most recent indictment by the Fulton county prosecutor. Following the snapshot, the bombastic candidate and Republican political lion posted the photo on truth social, his social media platform, attempting to circulate it in the hopes of firing up voters.
Jen Psaki, the former Whitehouse press secretary who is now a host and contributor for the left wing media outlet MSNBC wrote an opinion piece claiming that the photo would prove to be a negative for the presidential candidate, titling her article “Trump’s mug shot will backfire in 2024”. Psaki asserted that a crucial bloc of voters identifying as moderates and independents would be turned off by the photo, and that the indictments will sour on-the-fence voters, making him a non-palatable candidate to anyone besides his base. For his part, the Trump campaign has reported that it has raised more than $9 million since his mug shot, and that through the month of August, the campaign raised more than $20 million.
It appears Psaki’s claim may not be true. In a recent report, the Wall Street Journal has alleged that Trump has nearly doubled his support amongst black men and women since the 2020 presidential election. The accuracy of this claim is yet to be proven, but it is not farfetched to think Trump made gains due to the unfair indictments.
