“Return Our Nation”: The underside of Donald Trump’s call for a demonstration in his support

Donald Trump counterattacks in his own way. Suspected of having bought the silence of porn star Stormy Daniels, and under threat of indictment, the former White House resident took the lead this Saturday and asked his supporters to organize demonstrations in his support.

What did Donald Trump say?

On Truth Social, a social network he founded, the former American president assured on Saturday that he was going to be “arrested” on Tuesday and called for demonstrations in the United States in his support. “Protest, take back our nation!” “, He wrote.

While the press cites a possible accusation of paying shortly before the 2016 presidential election to buy the silence of a pornographic actress with whom he would have an affair, someone who seeks to return to the White House denounces the “leaks organized by the New State Attorney’s Office.” York in Manhattan: In the same message, Trump describes the services of Manhattan Attorney Alvin Bragg, an elected magistrate and Democrat, as “corrupt and highly political.”

Hours after his first post, Donald Trump repeated his call: “We must save America, demonstrate, demonstrate, demonstrate!!! “Messages that echo what he started in late 2020, convinced he was ‘stolen’ the election against Joe Biden, so his supporters are demonstrating in Washington on January 6, 2021, a prelude to their attack on the US . The Capitol, the seat of the legislature, shook America and the world.

Is he really facing arrest on Tuesday?

If he is charged soon, there is no indication that it will take place on Tuesday and that the former head of state will be “arrested” on that day. One of his lawyers, Susan Necheles, also indicated that his client decided to speak “on the basis of information in the press” published several days in advance. Therefore, neither the billionaire nor his team have first-hand information. When asked by American media, prosecutors declined to comment.

According to AP, the Trump-Daniels investigation is still ongoing. The hearing of at least one witness is still scheduled, and a court source clarifies that a decision on the indictment of Donald Trump has not yet been made.

The procedure is in any case known. If the Republican “surrenders” to New York justice, as one of the lawyers, Joseph Takopina, said on Friday, then he will then have to be fingerprinted and then photographed at the prosecutor’s office, clarifies CNN. He will then be presented to a judge who must allow him to go free.

According to the former prosecutor quoted by USA Today, Glenn Kirshner, it is unlikely that Trump will walk around in handcuffs in front of TV cameras. To avoid this spectacle, conditions for the issuance of identities are often negotiated.

What is the former US president trying to do?

As always, as in every case against him, Trump seeks to become a victim of himself. He regularly denounces political witch-hunts by Democratic magistrates, in particular New York State Attorney General Letitia James. In the Stormy Daniels case, Donald Trump’s lawyers also portray him as the victim of “extortion” by the actress.

The goal is political: to remobilize their supporters by identifying a democratic enemy. Donald Trump Jr., one of the billionaire’s sons, tweeted a photo of his father with a candid text: “They’re not really after me, they’re after you.”

Taking the floor and anticipating the announcement of his indictment, Donald Trump also reduces the influence of information and returns himself to the center of the game. Success: the American press widely covered the ex-president’s address this Saturday.

However, a possible guilty verdict from New York justice will stain itself before the 2024 presidential election. “It will have a stigmatizing effect,” John Coffey, a Columbia University law professor who specializes in financial crime, told AFP. The former president will go to any lengths to delay the trial, even if it doesn’t legally prevent him from running for office.